


Shin

by kissxsleep



Series: Bitties of the Mt. Ebott Area [6]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Bitties!, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-07
Updated: 2017-04-23
Packaged: 2018-09-30 04:25:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 36,217
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10153613
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kissxsleep/pseuds/kissxsleep
Summary: Shin Watanabe is a guy trying to just mind his own business and live his life. Sadly, all of that is turned upside down when a new lover and a new bitty walk into his life without asking first.(This is a rewrite of Flashlights and Stars)





	1. Shin

**Author's Note:**

> Full disclaimer:  
> I own nothing.  
> Undertale was created by Toby Fox  
> The bittybone au was created by @fucking_crybaby (18+ blog) and can be found at @bittybones-au (SFW blog)  
> Bitey was created by @busyrobothands (18+ blog) and can be found at http://busyrobothands.tumblr.com/post/140712601485/here-are-my-first-set-of-bittybones-for-the
> 
> ...that moment when you're ready to type out 14 pages of content, but get a headache XP So here's the first chapter despite that. It's technically 6 pages long, but that's such a short amount of space I don't really care (I think I might make my standard format 5-7 chapters long to keep myself from having to pad chapters and allow myself to be more direct ya know? XD)  
> I've said it before, and I'll say it again: I know some people won't like Shin's new personality. I personally think it fits his backstory better *shrugs*  
> Anyways, I'm off to relax a little and ignore how tired I am right now. Need to stay up another hour and a half at the moment, so I can't go to sleep. See you guys when I get the next chapter or chapters up :)

              In Oliverdale, there tended to be two kinds of people. One were the students with changing faces. They came and went as the years passed, never staying beyond the day they got their degree. With them came the cafes, the arcades, the movie theatres, the mall, and other sources of young adult entertainment both virtuous and sinful alike. The second were the suburban citizens with old homes and clean yards that lived clean. With them grew the bookstores, the clinics, the cemeteries, and other necessities of life. These two kinds of people created awkward mergers across the city- places where one side couldn’t quite beat out the other. The friction this caused made most of the citizens more than a little cranky. They didn’t want to bow down to a bunch of brats who would be leaving in a few years- what would be the point? The kids on the other hand demanded immediate comfort and obedience despite that cold hard fact.

              These clashes mostly happened on the two campuses within the center of the city: Moira’s Acting Academy and Oliverdale University. Each new batch of students often came with a new list of ridiculous demands that had to be swatted down. Unlike most places, Moira’s and O.U. weren’t about to cave in to peer pressure. They had to ensure the comfort and safety of all of their students- not just small groups that felt entitled to things always being their way each new year.

              This policy of ensuring that O.U. was known to be a place  for learning not feeling often left T.A.s like Shin Watanabe dealing with whiny brats like the ones crowding his personal space.

              “Oh my gosh.” One of the bratty girls whined, “You like have to tell someone higher up about this!“

              Shin sighed and continued to pack his things up despite the brimming anxiety bubbling within him because of the gaggle of students crowding him. His hands started to shake a little as they continued to grow closer and closer to him, further invading his personal space and making him more uncomfortable. He kept his long, bleached hair hanging around his face like a protective veil as they continued to whine and complain about the professor’s strict teaching.

              Professor Blackwell wasn’t a slouch despite teaching history- one of the classes that tended to get the short end of the stick from most students. Most students came in lazy and walked out either a history genius or a flunkie. The golden rule written in big letters above the projector simply was “No mercy for the lazy.” That wasn’t to say Blackwell was unkind to students who had jobs or other important distractions that kept them busy. Shin’s main job besides grading paperwork and transcribing all of the notes and lectures online was tutoring students who needed the help and _wanted_ to learn. It kept Shin very busy, but he loved having the distraction. He loved his job really. Watching students grow and develop as people and intellectuals made him feel like he was accomplishing something.

              However…

              His role often brought whiny, petulant students unhappy with the grades they rightly deserved for their lackluster performances to him as well, and with them- they always seemed to travel in packs- came his anxieties. Shin especially hated it when female students approached him at all. The ones seeking help he could tolerate. The ones like the harpies breathing down his neck reminded him too much of his mother for him to be comfortable.

              “The professor is doing nothing wrong.” Shin said quietly, glad that his voice didn’t crack into hundreds of tiny pieces, “You are simply not performing to the best of your abilities- an issue that lies with you. He can teach you the material until the sun dies out, but if you refuse to put in the effort to comprehend it on your own, there is nothing that can be done.”

              “Excuse me?” One of the girls hissed, angry that her bullshit was being called out, “Are you calling me lazy?”

              “He’s simply speaking the truth.” The low, older voice of Professor Blackwell slammed down on the shoulders of the students. The girls timidly turned around to face the professor. Despite being in his late 60s, Professor Blackwell managed to stand perfectly straight, and- ever the embodiment of poise- his dark brown eyes always made him look intimidating. With neat salt and pepper hair and a clean looking goatee, Blackwell’s mere presence demanded respect most days- even from students who would rather rip their own teeth out than bend to his wishes, “Do not harass my assistant because of your failing performances. Feel free to ‘report me’ if you wish. I have done nothing wrong beyond demanded excellence from students who should be able to give it to me. Now, please leave the classroom. Watanabe and I must have lunch if we’re expected to continue teaching.” Blackwell raised his hand and waved them away.

              The girls scurried away like the little rats they were.

              They could report Blackwell all they wanted, but, like the professor had said, nothing would come of it. Blackwell’s reputation as the most professional man on the planet wasn’t based in fiction. The older gay man didn’t have any illicit affairs and was happily married to his husband. Blackwell also didn’t take bribes or succumb to intimidation. He’d won many a case against students and groups trying to use fear tactics to break him. In truth, the former military man was probably the best damn teacher at the entire college and had no desire to tarnish that reputation for any reason.

              “Breathe Watanabe.” Blackwell leaned against his cane with both hands instead of reaching out to try and calm Shin like most people would have done. Shin slowly collected himself as he finished packing his satchel. Once his trembling stopped, bright pink acrylic nails reached up to tuck some of his mid-back length hair behind his ear.

              Shin Watanabe looked almost nothing like what his name made him sound like. Sure, he had his father’s dark, narrow eyes, but the rest of his face was an awkward mish-mash of French and Japanese that made his wide, thin lips and oddly colored complexion turn a few heads in a _bad_ way. He preferred to hide behind his hair when he could because of that. He also preferred to wear a long dark trench coat to hide his wiry body.

              “You feeling better?” Blackwell asked.

              “Yes sir.” Shin nodded robotically, “I normally have some warning before students swarm me…those girls just came out of the blue. They aren’t even really doing half bad…I don’t know why they were complaining.”

              “Students who are used to overachieving with little effort tend to struggle in classes where they actually have to think.” Blackwell snorted, “They’re just upset that they have to work for once in their lives. I’m sorry that you have to deal with most of their backlash though.”

              “I’ll be fine sir.” Shin insisted, slinging his satchel across his body and picking up his laptop bag, “I should have the pop quizzes graded by tomorrow.”

              “Watanabe.” Blackwell said firmly, glowering at the young man, “Are you getting any sleep at all?”

              “..a few hours.” Shin crossed his fingers behind his back.

              “That brilliant mind of yours is no good if it’s worn out Watanabe. I thought your psychiatrist had prescribed new sleeping pills for you to use.” Blackwell frowned.

              “She did. They just…they’re too strong. Even when I want to wake up, they keep me half asleep, so my…night terrors are much worse.” Shin scratched at the back of his arm nervously, “I’ve got an appointment to go back and try to figure out what to try next.”

              “I see.” Blackwell sighed. He finally reached out and patted Shin on the shoulder comfortingly, “Don’t push yourself too hard Watanabe. I know the students would probably cry if you weren’t around to help, and I know my day would be worse without you around. Take care of yourself.”

              “Yes sir.” Shin murmured quietly. He winced some when his voice cracked a little at the end. Blackwell didn’t make fun of him for it or even note it.

              “C’mon then my boy. I’m getting hungry.” Blackwell stretched his arms out a little and grunted, “What’s the cafeteria serving today?”

              “It’s a buffet today.” Shin answered automatically, the lunch menu for the month easily coming to mind, “Do you want to know all of the dishes?”

              “Why not? It might keep me from thinking about it too much when we get to the cafeteria.” Blackwell chuckled as Shin immediately began to rattle off the list of entrees, side dishes, and desserts being served that day. Mondays, Tuesdays, and Fridays were always buffets, but the dishes changed each time until the month ended. Blackwell’s memory was getting a bit spottier in his old age, so he was glad that his assistant was capable of easily filling in any of his blanks.

              In the cafeteria, Shin and Blackwell parted ways. Blackwell joined the other professors at a private table while Shin quickly exited the loud and crowded place for the outside courtyard. He sat by himself underneath the shade of a tree that was dying because it couldn’t get enough sunlight. Once upon a time, the large auditorium next to the tree hadn’t existed, but it casted a long, constant shadow after its construction. Most of the students and staff avoided the slowly decaying tree- muttering that it was cursed or haunted.

              To Shin, that meant people wouldn’t come and bother him while he ate.

              He honestly couldn’t remember a time when he really felt comfortable with other people. His past had been riddled with his mother isolating him from anyone and everyone in order to keep her potential super star close at hand. The harsh tutors and teachers of his private schooling and home life drove him further and further into his shell with their harmful words and abusive tendencies. Sadly, there was little his father Daichi had been able to do for him. Daichi- like Shin- had been bent down to Fredericka’s will for so long that it shocked everybody when he filed for divorce and tried to gain custody of Shin.

              Maybe if his father had gotten custody of him, Shin could’ve received treatment earlier on in life. Maybe he would’ve been able to interact with others for longer periods of time or at all. Maybe he wouldn’t be a bundle of insecurities awkwardly mashed into a body mangled by years of neglect.

              But thinking about ‘what if?’ caused him more pain than he was willing to allow himself to feel. Thus, he tried his best to lock all of his emotions in a box to keep tucked away from the light. To most of the people who knew him, he was set permanently to anxious and rarely expressed emotions other than that single one.

              “Is that Watanabe?” A few of his coworkers whispered loudly among themselves at they walked by, “Why is he sitting all by himself? Doesn’t he know how creepy that looks?”

              “He’s probably plotting something.”

              “Ha! He’d have to be smart enough to do that. He’s just got no friends.”

              “That’s mean!”

              “It’s true though! When’s the last time _he_ got invited out anywhere? No one wants a freak of nature ruining their squad goals.”

              Shin’s eyes became dimmer a little as he ate his lunch and tried to ignore the young coworkers and their continuous ramblings about him. Surprisingly, the older generation of staff members understood him better than his peers, and he couldn’t tell if that was a good or a bad thing.

              “Shin?”

              The familiar voice caused his eyes to flicker up.

              Eugene- the local big shot and sadly one of the few staff in his age demographic that would actually speak to him- cocked his head at the sight of Shin eating by himself. The curly haired blonde with bright green eyes easily managed to do the things Shin couldn’t. He was swarmed with friends and invitations to parties. All of the students practically treated him like a god, and the _mayor_ of Oliverdale enjoyed his presence- and that bastard hated most people.

              “Hello Eugene.” Shin responded simply.

              “What are you doing out here? I thought your skin burns really easily?” Eugene commented, eyes flicking up to observe the bright sun in the sky.

              “Most of my skin is covered. I’m in the shade.” Shin vaguely gestured around with one of his hands, “I’ll be fine.”

              “That didn’t answer my first question.” Eugene pointed out.

              “I always eat out here.” Shin said through gritted teeth.

              “What?” Eugene blinked, mouth dropping open a little.

              “We’ve worked together for three years and you never noticed?” Shin found himself arching one of his black brows before he could stop it from happening. Eugene wasn’t a Eugenia, so the natural slight fear he felt towards women didn’t hinder his interactions with his male coworker. Still, he didn’t enjoy expressing so much of himself out in the open. The last thing he wanted for anyone to think was that he was open to having friends, “The cafeteria too loud and crowded for my tastes, so I eat out here- _alone_.”

              “But doesn’t that get kind of dull?” Eugene’s frown deepened, “Do you want me to sit out here with you?”

              “No. Please just leave me alone.” Shin sighed, rubbing his temples, “Really Eugene. I’m fine. Just…leave me alone- please. I’m having a bad day and really don’t feel like talking to anyone right now.”

              Eugene was silent for a couple of minutes before sighing.

              “Very well then….I need to tell you something though.” Eugene cleared his throat.

              _I swear if this is another lecture on how humans aren’t islands and that I should almost kill myself by interacting with others when I can barely interact with the professor…I will lose my mind._ Shin bit his lip angrily and choked back his anger. He knew Eugene meant well, but even the best of intentions can chafe someone.

              “I know you grade in the library, so I just wanted to let you know that some kid thought it’d be funny to let loose a former fighter bitty in there. It hasn’t been caught yet. It’s also pretty dangerous.” Eugene winced as memories came back, “He’s already broken some bones and scratched up faces.”

              “Thank you for the warning. I will be careful when I go in tonight.” Shin managed to sound cordial.

              “You’re still going to go in there!?” Eugene blinked.

              “My home wi-fi is much more unpredictable and spotty than the library wi-fi, so yes, I will still be going there.” Shin fought the urge to point out that not everyone lived in the well-off neighborhood that Eugene did. Shin himself lived on ‘senior lane’- a place where a bunch of the retired elderly gathered and barely kept the electricity up most days. He didn’t have the option of working from home. That would decrease his reliability and hinder his capability of getting work actually done, “I doubt a bitty will pay me much mind.”

              “Shin. This thing’s attacked people already for no reason.” Eugene argued.

              “I doubt that.” Shin snorted, “If I end up in the hospital because of my decision Eugene, you’ll more than likely be the first to know. Please leave me in peace now. I need to finish eating in order to be able to get back to work in a timely manner. I have a lot of things to do.”

              “Fine.” Eugene gave up, “Just be careful Shin.”

              “I will.” Shin waved numbly as the super star left him behind like he wanted him to.

              As always, people gave up easily.

              The rest of Shin’s day consisted of trying to not rip his hair out as students came up to him asking the most mundane of questions. Most of them had obviously not read their reading material, and that blatant gap in their knowledge was hindering the lesson greatly. Thus, he left a massive post on the classroom website warning them that _he_ was designing the next test and would be including material from their independent readings. That seemed to get their attention quickly.

              It was when he was on his way to the library that Eugene’s earlier warning came back to him.

              He paused just a little at the doors.

              _….This could be dangerous…_ He thought.

              He went inside anyways.


	2. Somehow

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I own nothing. Full disclaimer/links can be found in Ch.1
> 
> Just because I said I'd do it in the addendum chapter I mentioned this in, NOTE: my @kissxsleep tumblr is now 18+. Even though there isn't NSFW content on it yet, I will more than likely be adding some at some point. Besides, it no longer focuses on my writing/fanfic. my new blog @kissxawake however does. That is the place to go to for updates on my fics and to ask questions about it you don't want to ask on AO3 for any reason or another. @kissxsleep is really just me dicking around and RPing at this point. Nothing of any real gravity for fans of my writing in all honesty. Thus, @kissxawake is the one people should probably be looking at. It'll definitely be where I post any of my stories if I decide to cross post again (which I stopped doing because there was no reaction whatsoever, and I don't have the time to do something when it's not really being seen. got new content to make after all)
> 
> Anyways, slightly longer chapter to apologize for my lack of productivity lately. I've got a midterm Friday, so I'm just...bleeh at the moment. *streches* Hopefully, I'll be able to start producing more content once this craziness is over.

              The library was- unsurprisingly- rather empty for a change. Musty books collected in the top most shelves- forgotten in favor of newer books slowly being destroyed by misuse. The O.U. library lacked major technological advancements in most areas. The only part of the library that actually had decent desktop computers was the second floor which had to be reached via a normally broken and untrustworthy elevator or a dark as hell stairwell. Thus, only the desperate and needy were willing to put their necks out on the line. The dinosaurs on the first floor worked well enough most days. They just tended to be slow.

              “Watanabe.” The librarian said quietly, looking around like she expected to be attacked, “Haven’t you _heard_?”

              “About the bitty?” Shin responded in an equally quiet voice, “I have.”

              “Then what are you doing here? It’s dangerous. The only reason I haven’t shut this place down is because the higher ups won’t let me.” The librarian looked at him like he was insane, “That thing’s hurt a lot of people Watanabe. The security guards are all up in a tizzy about it too- determined to ‘teach’ the bitty a lesson you know.”

              _My mother often liked to ‘teach’ me lessons…._ Shin felt his eye twitch involuntarily. _…Human beings really are some of the vilest creatures in history._

              “That doesn’t change the fact I still have to get a lot of work done. May I please sign in to use the computers upstairs?” Shin approached the sign in sheet.

              “Watanabe….” The librarian groaned, “I can’t guarantee your safety!”

              “I’m not asking for safety.” Shin could feel himself draining emotionally. His filter was starting to decay due to the excessive babying everyone seemed to be doing that day in particular, “I’m asking to use the wi-fi for three hours, so I can get my work done. Now, may I sign in to use the computers upstairs?”

              The librarian mumbled curses under her breath, but let him sign in at last. She made sure that he saw her send up a prayer for him and shoot him a dirty look before returning her attention back to avoiding the mean bitty in the library. Shin wordlessly headed towards the dark stairwell without a care in the world. Some of the Gung-ho security guards were scouring every inch of the library in an attempt to locate the loose bitty, and they blatantly stared at him when he walked by them to get upstairs.

              “Hey!” One of them called after him, “Don’t you know-“

              “I know it’s ‘dangerous’ to go upstairs.” Shin angled his head to glower at the loud security guard through his hair, “Please be quiet. This is a library not a rodeo.” He coolly walked away, leaving the security guard behind to blink in shock.

              Just like Shin expected, there was no psychotic bitty prowling around flashing claws and fangs. He quickly booted up one of the computers and dug out his things to begin working. The library closed early on Fridays because some of the staff had to go leave Oliverdale to go visit family in other cities, so he only had a limited amount of time to actually get as much of his long list of tasks needed to be done actually done. Shin easily threw himself into his work- grading tests and quizzes, transferring notes to the class website, and creating the next few assignments. He almost found himself happy the angry bitty was wreaking havoc across the library. Its chaos meant he could actually get things done without having to worry about people trying to talk to him.

              _…and…there…that….hmm…_ Shin glowered at a quiz he was working on. _…I think that dates wrong…._

              Luckily, the new computers had been put with the new monster history section, so it was easy for the Monster-Human Coexistence teaching assistant to dig up a book on the Bloodlight War. He could remember the vague location of the book he had pulled from to create the notes, but he couldn’t remember the exact shelf. Thus, his fingers traced across the backs of book spines carefully to avoid damaging some of the older ones. Some of the books came from the _Underground itself_.  Needless to say- unlike some people- he treated the precious tomes with the kind of respect they deserved.

              _Shhiiicckk._

              Shin’s shoulders tensed immediately. He heard a low growl come from above and to the right of him. His entire body froze.

              Slowly moving his eyes upwards, Shin finally saw small trails of dust and some kind of clear liquid dripping from the top shelf. A bright glowing orange eye stared directly at him, the other was a slit of dim orange. Ragged breathing made the guttural growl and following hiss sound more pained than anything else. Shin kept an eye on the shadow above him as he carefully stepped back from the book shelf and looked up. A battered hand clawed out at him threateningly. The lunge sent parts of the bitty out into the light, allowing Shin to see just how damaged the bitty was. Bruises, cracks, and lacerations raced up the bitty’s arm and across its face. A pair of chipped horns- one broken in half- looked ready to crumble if they had to endure anymore abuse, and tattered leather clothing hung off the bitty in pathetic looking strips.

              “There’s actually a bitty in here…” He mumbled, feeling his toes fidget in his boots anxiously, “Huh…you…you look….pretty terrible actually.” The scars on his back almost seemed to sting. Shin clenched his jaw and took a few steadying breaths to try and stop the trembling in his hands from getting any worse. Shyly, he approached the snarling creature on top of the book shelf, “You need to get some he-“

              The bitty lunged again, but this time, it went too far. Broken, bleeding wings snapped out in an attempt to stop the bitty from plunging from the tall book shelf, but the small cuts in them left the wings unable to serve their purpose. Shin knew that he would probably regret his actions immediately after performing them. Still, his small, long and thin fingered hands stretched out to catch the injured bitty.

              Sharp fangs sank into his teeth within seconds.

              Shin bit back a pained wince and watched as the bitty thrashed and snarled angrily in his hands. The bitty obviously didn’t enjoy being captured. Sadly, from the looks of it, the bitty didn’t seem to have much more energy to keep fighting. Shin found himself worrying about hurting another creature with his delicate looking hands for the first time in his life while he carefully cradled the infuriated bundle of hostility that eventually began to tire out.

              When the bitty finally collapsed against his fingers in pure exhaustion, his hands looked like an angry dog had gotten ahold of them. Shin purposefully ignored the agony throbbing through his mangled appendages in order to try and assess how much damage had been done to the bitty. Some old scars roped across thin, emaciated bones. Sharp fangs had been replaced with dingy, chipped metal ones at some point, and the leather pants and strips of leather around the bitty’s chest looked ready to crack apart and disintegrate within days.

              “Holy…” Shin looked down at the pitiful looking bitty that had more than likely once been a proud fighter in some ring within Oliverdale look ready to give up and fall into tiny pieces, “I…I need to get you to a CC….Now…”

              The bitty opened the eye that didn’t have a cracked, bruised socket around it to watch Shin suspiciously as the human quickly gathered his things up with one hand. He ended up having to fold his sleeve over his fingers in order to keep blood from going everywhere, but he managed to gather all of his things and turn off the computer despite only having one hand to use.

              _…Those security guards…_ Shin paused at the stairwell. He could just imagine what their reaction would be to the bitty. _I couldn’t really put up much of a fight if they tried to grab him from me._

              _~~You’ve always been weak.~~_

Shin blocked the old memories before they could resurface. He didn’t have time to lose his composure- not when this bitty looked close enough to death’s door to kiss the door knob. Shin tucked his arms in around himself, sliding the one hand holding the bitty under his jacket, and acted like it was cold. The bitty growled and grumbled at being shoved so close to his armpit, but there wasn’t really much the bitty could do about his predicament. Shin cautiously walked down the stairs, forcing himself to not hold his breath out of anxiety. With shaky legs, he stepped onto the ground floor and began to try and leave the library.

              “Oi Watanabe.” One of the security guards called out to him, “Something spook ya? You’re leaving early.”

              “No. I simply left some materials at home.” Shin’s body shook with nerves, “I can’t complete my work without them.”

              “You get the chills man?” One of the security guards frowned.

              “I always do on the second floor. The AC is broken remember?” Shin hoped to whatever high power would believe him that the AC hadn’t been recently fixed.

              “Ah right. If you want to just go home and warm up, I’ll sign you out.” The guard waved him away, “You look ready to pass out. You need someone to walk you back to your place?”

              “No. I’m fine.” Shin shook his head, carefully measuring how fast and how far he moved his head. The rather pitiable attempt of working deception forced him to try and keep his story straight while reacting to the guard’s rather polite questions, “I just need to get home. Thank you for signing me out though.”

              “No problem.” The guard shrugged before turning away to keep looking for the bitty.

              It took _all_ of Shin’s self-control to not launch himself out of the library.

              Once he was off of O.U.’s large, beautiful campus, he finally tugged the bitty out from his jacket. The strange creature glowered at him sulkily and hissed, broken tail beating weakly against his hand in the bitty’s anger.

              “I’m sorry, but they might’ve hurt you if I just walked downstairs with you.” Shin mumbled apologetically, hands still trembling. The bitty stayed silent, “You…really aren’t the chatty type…I…u…u-um…” Shin cleared his throat, “I…y-you need to get to a C-CC…s-so I’m going to take you to one….o-okay?” Again, nothing.

              _You are not helping me with anything at the moment._ Shin grumbled mentally as he tugged the bitty close to his chest and began to walk in the direction of the local Bitty Care Center. The bitty was surprisingly docile during the trip. Shin didn’t know how to quite interpret the new lack of movement, and only the constant weight of the bitty in his hand assured him that the bitty hadn’t….died in his hands. He glanced down on one occasion and almost tripped upon seeing that the little devil had simply passed out. _You really aren’t helping me at all…I guess anyone would be tired after going through whatever you’ve been through though._

              Dodging people he both recognized and had never met before, Shin eventually made it to the CC wedged close enough to the upper middle class that the place practically stank of their superiority complex. The people in Oliverdale with money tended to be some of the biggest assholes on the planet, so it was little wonder the monsters working at the CC would be just as posh and arrogant.

              “Can I help you?” The lioness behind the front desk raised a brow and looked him up and down. Shin shifted awkwardly under her gaze and struggled to find words.

              “I…I…um…ah…” Shin held out the bitty he had found in the library, “He needs help.” His words were very quiet.

              “Oh my stars!” The lioness shot up and glared at him, “What did you _do_ to him?”

              “N-Nothing!” Shin argued, protectively cradling the bitty to him when her paw came down too heavy handed for his tastes, “I-I found him hurt, so I b-brou…brought….” Shin’s words tapered off into silence as he took a cautious half-step back.

              “You expect me to believe you just _found_ a bitty like this?” The lioness growled, “You’re from a ring aren’t you? I’m calling the cops.”

              Shin stared open mouthed as she…actually called the cops on him.

              The bitty was taken from him by more rude bitty techs while he was essentially held hostage in the lobby. A few people in the lobby actually recognized him and whispered among themselves as the techs continued to shoot him dirty looks and growl at him.  Shin sunk lower and lower into his trench coat, trying his best to pretend that none of what was going on was actually happening to him. His face flushed in awkward red and pink patches that didn’t connect, and his sharp nails left welts across his arms as he scratched the flesh beneath his sleeves to abate some of the tension in him.

              The lioness and her bitty tech cohorts tried to spin a story that he was some kind of bitty abuser to police officers who recognized Shin. Hell, one of the two knew Shin because Shin lived next door to her grandfather. The two immediately shut down the accusations that he was a bitty abuser and actually demanded that he be apologized to for this ridiculous nonsense.

              Shin was too busy trying to tell his body that he wasn’t dying to really notice. Painful shakes race through his body as his lungs refused to draw in air. His head spun in a thousand different directions at the speed of light, and it shocked him that he wasn’t puking. It felt like death had his spine in a cold, iron grip and wasn’t about to let go any time soon. Slowly, the panic attack faded away while officers continued to chew out the techs for making false accusations against a good citizen of Oliverdale just because he didn’t look rich enough to afford a bitty.

              “Shin.” The female officer didn’t touch him, didn’t get too close either, but her voice tried to be comforting, “I’m sorry you’ve had to deal with this. I know you wouldn’t ever be able to work at a bitty ring.” The officer glowered at the lioness again, “So I’d better not have to come back and go through this again miss. I do not care how rich the kids who go to the local colleges are or how much they pay you for their expensive bitties. The simple fact of the matter is that us lower middle class make up a majority of Oliverdale. You’d better get used to it.”

              The lioness couldn’t decide whether she wanted to look embarrassed or offended.

              “Do you want to leave now Shin?” The male officer accompanying the female on asked.

              “I…uh…the b-bitty…” Shin made some awkward hand gestures like they would be able to make his meaning clearer.

              “Are you looking to adopt it?” The female officer raised a concerned brow.

              “I…um…I…” Shin could feel his panic rising again as all the attention was shifted onto him. He had no idea really. It wasn’t as though he had the funds to adopt a bitty haphazardly, and the bitty in question hadn’t seemed fond of him earlier that day either.

              “Hey!” A loud shout came from the back of the building, followed by a loud series of clattering and cursing, “Catch him!”

              The officers and the lioness tensed as the door to the back opened some and a small figure darted out.

              Shin blinked in amazement as the bitty- which had been identified as a bitey- stumbled into the lobby, desperately trying to flap his bandaged wings in order to get away. Honestly, the bitey had practically been wrapped head to toe in bandages and casts. Even his horns were carefully wrapped up to keep the damage from spreading further.

              “Dammit.” A furry monster with blood trailing down from above his eye pursued the bitey into the lobby, “He’s definitely a fighter. C’mere. You’re just aggravating your injuries at this point.” A paw reached down to grab him once more. The bitey then opted to use his shortened, cast covered tail as a blunt weapon to lash out at the paw reaching towards him. The monster recoiled and let out a pained hiss. The bitey wobbled a bit and growled. His voice still held some kind of distortion, making it sound like a broken radio playing monster noises.

              “Y-You…” Shin stood up awkwardly, almost bumping into the officer with his haste. The bitey’s uninjured eye zeroed in on him immediately. Shin didn’t know what to expect when the bitey hurried towards him. To his shock and disbelief, the bitey climbed up his jacket and perched on his shoulder to hiss at the bitty tech before hiding behind Shin’s hair and growling.

              “…I guess…he kind of made my decision for me.” Shin laughed awkwardly, shrinking under all of the heavy gazes on his shoulder. The bitey mumbled some distorted noises and pressed close to his neck. The low threatening growls the bitty emitted when people got too close to Shin almost made the panic ridden introvert laugh, but the gravity of the situation helped him keep the giggles at bay, “…uh…well…W-What do I do now then?”

              He couldn’t just rip the bitey off his shoulder and toss the bitty to the nearest bitty tech- not after that display. The idea alone made him feel disgusting and pathetic. Besides, the bitey seemed to have regained some of his strength, and Shin doubted getting rid of the small creature would be much harder than a person would imagine.

              “You can’t be serious.” The lioness gawked, “Do you have any idea how expensive a bitty is?”

              “Do you want me to give you exact figures or estimates?” Shin shot back, growing a little annoyed that his knowledge was being questioned.

              “Shin probably knows more about monster history and current living than you do.” The female officer sneered, “He helps teach it for a living after all.”

              “I can afford it.” Shin said. _Barely, but you don’t need to know that you pretentious bitch._

              Thus, the lioness and the other bitty techs found themselves reluctantly signing over the bitey to Shin’s inexperienced care. Shin could hear the bitey making more unhappy noises at his predicament, but his broken wings kept him from really being able to do anything else. The officers stayed to make sure that Shin was treated nicely and even bandaged his hands up upon noticing the injuries the bitey had inflicted earlier.

              “What are you going to name him?” The lioness sighed as they reached the end of the paperwork.

              Shin blanked mentally.

              “Does he not have a name already?” The female officer questioned.

              “No. From the looks of it, he’s from the silent ring of Oliverdale.” The furry bitty tech gestured to his shoulder, “His identification code is seared onto his back shoulder blade, and his vocal chords have been permanently damaged. It’s not like those sick bastards actually give them decent names anyways.”

              “…Cuspid?” Shin provided shyly.

              “Really?” The lioness gave him a dirty look.

              “Really.” Shin wilted backwards a little, causing the bitey to bare his fangs at the lioness. She really hadn’t been successful in trying to win the bitty over to her side for the past twenty minutes.

              “Fine…all the paperwork is done…the check went through…You’re set.” The lioness handed him a packet of paperwork, “Do you want to-“

              “I should be going now.” Shin interrupted her without much thought, “Besides, there’s another BCC opening up closer to my home anyway.”

              The cops actually snickered a bit when the techs realized they were about to lose a potential customer.

              “Bye.” Shin told her hurriedly before nodding to the amused cops. He took Cuspid and all but fled the flashy CC. Once he was outside and alone with the bitty, he mumbled, “I really hate this side of town…” He shook his head softly before falling silent.

              _He can’t talk._ Shin thought while feeling the bitty- who had been gifted a nice new hoodie and pair of jeans by the officers who paid for them- try to both observe their surroundings and get his broken body comfortable on Shin’s shoulder. _How am I…supposed to make this work?_ Shin had to keep his shoulders from drooping. He could barely handle interactions where the other party _could_ talk. How was he supposed to handle interactions where the other party _couldn’t_ respond?

              “I’m sorry.” Shin whispered quietly, hands wringing together, nails biting into the skin of his knuckles, “I’m probably not going to be the best owner, but I’ll try.”

              The bitey didn’t make a single noise at that.

              Shin’s house slowly came into view. It was an old, ugly yellow color with a slightly faded front lawn and tacky pin curtains in the windows. The inside held many similarities to the outside- garish colored walls in various shades of blue, baroque furniture combined with the cheap shit from IKEA in order to fill the slightly dilapidated home. Unlike the elderly people living on the lane, Shin didn’t have old furniture or families to mooch off of. Thus, he literally took what he could get whenever he could get it.

              “It’s not much.” Shin found himself blushing upon entering his dingy living room, “It’s…better than nothing though ri-“ Cuspid climbed down him and stood on the floor. Judgmental eyes took in every inch of the fused living room and kitchen as it could. Shin sighed and took his trench coat off to reveal his narrow frame. He’d never really been much of an eater. All of his anxieties tended to make him nauseous if he ate too much, so his kitchen wasn’t exactly brimming with many food products.

              Cuspid finally looked back up at Shin and seemed to look at him for the first time. Shin awkwardly fiddled his thumbs while he waited for any kind of reaction from the bitty.

              Cuspid literally walked off into the kitchen without a single vocalization or change of expression.

              “I-If you’re hungry…I could make you something.” Shin offered, trailing behind the bitty and feeling awkward that he was almost a guest in his own home, “I don’t have much right now I’m afraid.” _And I won’t have much for a while. Your medical bills hurt my bank account big time._ “Um…I have some candy…some fruits I believe….uhh…” Cuspid didn’t seem impressed as Shin began to dig around some, “Some baking supplies…some mi- oh…it’s spoiled…uh…hm…oh…crackers…honey.”

              Cuspid’s tail perked up.

              “Honey?” Shin repeated. Cuspid cocked his head, “You can have some if you want…” Shin offered, heading over to a kitchen drawer and grabbing a spoon. He poured some of the honey onto it and gave the spoon to the curious bitey.

              He saw the bitey smile for the first time when it realized that the honey was actually honey and not anything else.

              “..t..H… _A.. **n k**…_” The soft sounds were almost lost to the broken distortion of the bitty’s voice.

              “You can talk.” Shin’s mouth hung open a little. Cuspid glared at him, “We….a little…at least…um…”

              Shin blushed and scratched at his neck awkwardly.

              “We’ll…We’ll figure this out…somehow.” Shin tried his best to assure the bitey.

              Cuspid simply stole the honey and fucked right off with it.


	3. Bonding

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I own nothing. Full disclaimer/links can be found in Ch.1
> 
> ...that moment when you're elbows deep in a chapter and get called away to run errands for about three hours =_=  
> So, shorter, bonding chapter/expo chapter here. Hopefully, you guys find Cuspid as cute as I do.

              Cuspid had a tendency to…break things.

              Shin couldn’t tell if the bitty was intentionally doing it or not, and he didn’t want to scold the bitty for something that might’ve been an accident. Shin also simply wanted to avoid arguing with the bitty in general. Cuspid actually managed to stay out of Shin’s way most of the time. Since the bitey’s wings were still recovering, the hissing bitty usually took up residence under pieces of furniture and minded his own business.

              “C-Cuspid.” Shin reluctantly sat down on his knees in front of the couch. He scratched at his chin anxiously as he continued to speak, “We…you…um…Your bandages really need to be changed, and you need a bath. Your i-i-injuries might g-get infected at this rate.”

              Silence greeted Shin for a couple of seconds. When a single orange orb glowed in the darkness under the couch, Shin let out an anxious sigh of relief. Cuspid had been recovering, so the bitey’s ability to actually hurt the human grew stronger as well. Shin tried his best to not be nervous about the idea his bitey could turn on him. After all, the bitty hadn’t shown any outward signs of true hostility- just annoyance and discomfort. Still…

              _A student walked into the classroom and almost screamed upon seeing Cuspid sitting on Shin’s lap crankily chewing on a bar of honey. The sweet treats were a good way of keeping the bitty from snarling all the time, so Shin had bought them to keep the bitty from being too grumpy while Shin had to work. The human never thought that one of Cuspid’s victims would be in the class. It took some comforting words from Blackwell to calm not only the frantic student, but a panicking Shin as well. The security guards hadn’t been happy Shin was walking around with Cuspid on campus either. All in all, Shin’s attempts at trying to keep an eye on his new responsibility seemed to keep blowing up in his face._

              “Cuspid.” Shin murmured quietly, bending down just a little despite the risk of putting his face closer to the little monster’s claws, “Please let me just take care of you. I’ll leave you alone after…okay? I j-just don’t want your injuries to f-fester.”

              A clawed hand calmly reached out from under the couch. Cuspid dragged himself out from underneath the couch quietly and sat down upon completely wriggling free of the dusty depths. The human and bitty merely stared at each other blankly at first. Shin honestly hadn’t expected Cuspid to come out, and Cuspid didn’t look like _he_ was going to say anything. The lack of proper communication between the two definitely caused most of their quiet stare downs. How were two broken souls supposed to interact with each other?

              “b.. _a **t**_..h.” Cuspid reminded Shin at last. The broken, distorted voice made the young teaching assistant almost jump out of his skin. Cuspid’s face remained blank and unapologetic as Shin cleared his throat awkwardly and stood up.

              “R-Right…” Shin nodded and bent down to pick Cuspid up. The fact Cuspid let Shin pick him up was testament enough to how gross the old bandages had to feel, “I have the first aid kit set up in the b-bathroom.” Shin explained, calmer and steadier than he had been before.

              Cuspid let out a low buzzing noise Shin often equated with Cuspid recognizing a necessary annoyance. The bitey’s voice would probably never fully recover, but Shin hoped that it would improve as Cuspid grew healthier with each passing day.

              “Are your wings hurting more than usual?” Shin questioned after setting the bitty down on the bathroom counter and beginning to fill the sink with slightly warm water. Cuspid shook his head, “Good. That’s good.” Cuspid narrowed his eyes and let out a popping sigh, “Oh…I…I already kind of said that…um…ah…” Shin fumbled for his words until Cuspid just made the coughing sound that was his version of him clearing his throat. The bitey tugged on his bandages and raised a brow, “R-Right.”

              With careful fingers, Shin helped Cuspid get undressed and unwind the bandages. Scars old and new turned what would’ve been smooth bone into a marred map of old pain. Some of Cuspid’s fresher injuries had yet to heal properly, leaving deep rents gaping in his ribs and arms. The damage done to Cuspid’s horns had left them much shorter and frailer than the average bitey’s. Cuspid constantly touched them only to recoil when pain shot down his head for the foolish touches. His injured eye constantly plagued the former bitty with headaches as well, creating a very cranky Cuspid most days.

              “Do I need to turn some of the lights off?” Shin offered.

              “n **o**.” Cuspid grumbled, crawling into the filled sink and settling down on sore bones.

              “I need to use some of this soap on you…” Shin warned. Cuspid just leaned back and gave him a dirty look, “I’m sorry, but you’ve gone for too long without a bath. Your wounds need to be properly d-disinfected.”

              Cuspid’s dark look didn’t lessen any, but the grumpy bitey allowed Shin to clean him off without much comment or fanfare. Shin did get nipped a few times when his fingers accidentally came down too hard on one of Cuspid’s wounds though. Still, the shallow pinpricks in his fingers were nothing compared to the damage Cuspid _could_ do. Shin couldn’t decide if he should feel flattered or anxious.

              “I’m sorry that I can’t afford the headache medication you need.” Shin mumbled quietly, scrubbing Cuspid’s back and wings gently, “It’s just…so expensive.” He sighed. The teaching assistant typically made enough for a normal person to get by, but a normal person didn’t have the kind of financial strains Shin did.

              Daichi Watanabe had been a fragile soul after his twin brother Daiki Watanabe and his sister-in-law Nanako Watanabe died tragically, leaving behind their young son. Fredericka- Shin’s mother and Daichi’s ex-wife- absolutely hated Daiki, so the abusive bitch refused to allow Daichi to adopt the frightened young boy. That act of cruelty finally made Daichi- an otherwise kind, patient man willing to put up with Fredericka’s abuse because he loved her- almost carve his wife into pieces. The psychologists had agreed that Daichi wasn’t in any position to stand trial when it happened, so Daichi was locked away in an asylum while Shin suffered under the hands of his mother until…

              _~~Blood…a scream…Not dead. Just maimed. Sirens. Loud sirens. Bright lights. Fear. Fear. FEAR.~~_

              “h **ey**.” Cuspid chomped on his hand deep enough to draw blood, “HEY.”

              Shin blinked dumfounded before realizing that he’d drawn blood by clawing his own palms. He stared at the pinking water for a couple of heartbeats before pulling Cuspid out of the water. Shin didn’t enjoy reliving memories of finally snapping and bashing a broomstick across his mother’s face when he was 18. His final straw had come too, and the court was a bit worried that he would have to join his father in an asylum. Luckily, his record was wiped clean once all the abuse came to light. Not even the most critical of jurors could ignore the scars on his back and arms.

              “I apologize.” Shin mumbled, unplugging the sink before reaching into the cabinet to dig out some Band-Aids for his palms, “I allowed myself to slip back into some repressed memories.” His shaking hands ended up dropping the box of Band-Aids on top of Cuspid. The bitey caught them easily enough and let out an annoyed huff at Shin, “..s-sorry.” Shin flushed bright red. He managed to get some bandages out successfully this time, “Sorry. I’m sorry.” He muttered in an attempt to try and stop his shaking.

              A surprisingly steady hand rested on one of his knuckles. Cuspid look up at him with an expression that almost betrayed some kind of sympathy.

              “Sorry.” Shin said one final time once he’d collected himself. He rubbed his dry eyes and stood up straight to take a deep, steadying breath, “Let’s get you bandaged up okay?” Cuspid nodded in agreement.

              Shin made sure to be much more careful as he bandaged up Cuspid. He didn’t want to risk hurting the bitty any more than he already had during the bath, so he kept his touches as light as he possibly could. Cuspid seemed to appreciate this gesture just a little bit- if the slight relaxing of his shoulders was any indicator. The bitey resembled a mummy once more after Shin finished properly covering all of his injuries. Walking around in all of the bandages had to have been more than a little annoying, but Cuspid never really complained.

              “Aright. There.” Shin finished taping down one of the bandages and actually smiled a little, “Better. Hopefully, you won’t get an infection now.” He stupidly brought one of his fingers up to Cuspid’s face in order to gently stroke the bitty’s cheekbone. His brain screamed at him for how stupid he had been, fully expecting the bitey to chomp down on his finger once more.

              Cuspid leaned into the touch barely a millimeter.

              It was progress though.

              “Hungry?” Shin questioned, his own stomach rumbling. Cuspid nodded, “Let’s see what we have in the fridge then…”

              Shin could feel the slight shift in their dynamics after that. Some part of him wondered what kinds of memories Cuspid was repressing, but the smarter part of him knew that his heart probably wouldn’t be able to take it if he did. _Maybe I should ask my therapist to look at **him** too. _Shin thought with a slight chuckle as he made them both peanut butter and honey sandwiches. Cuspid was surprisingly easy to cook for. The dish just had to contain some kind of honey in it to please him.

              “ **b** _a **d….**_ ” Cuspid cleared his throat after he finished swallowing the piece of sandwich in his mouth. Shin cocked his head and waited for the bitty to continue, “mE _m_ **OR** _eE_ s…go.. **n**.. _e…_?”

              “O-Oh. Yes. For now.” Shin assured him. Blushing slightly and scratching the back of his hand, “I don’t even know how I slipped back into them before. It was odd.”

              That was a lie.

              Shin knew his issue came from remembering the expensive bill he paid every month to keep his father in a more comfortable establishment than the near prison he’d been in for a while. Shin and Daichi both hoped that the older man would one day be able to permanently leave the facility, but they settled for the occasional holiday together instead.

              “You have bad memories too don’t you?” Shin questioned before he could stop himself. Again, his mind scolded him for being too quick to speak.

              Cuspid’s face went blank and cold for a minute.

              Then…the bitty nodded slowly at first before the motion quickly became more frantic.

              “I-I’m sorry.” Shin reached out and picked the bitty up, ignoring the bites he received for his instinctive coddling, “I’m sorry…I d-didn’t m-mean to…I..um…gah…”

              Cuspid grumbled and rested his chin against Shin’s chest to glare at the fumbling human. He growled a little before ultimately sighing. The bitty actually just let his head fall against Shin’s chest, and that was when Shin knew that he had accidentally stepped on some old memories he really shouldn’t have. His brain made damn sure to let him know how stupid he was for messing up that badly too.

              Shin and Cuspid relaxed on the couch for a little while to let the bitty just relax some. Shin worried that Cuspid would snap out of his sad funk only to turn hostile, but that never happened. Cuspid eventually just slipped down off the couch to go find a quiet place to sit. The human counted his lucky stars that his mess up hadn’t been too terrible.

              It was hours later- when Shin was buried up to his elbows in work- that Eugene called.

              “Shin!” The other man’s excited voice made Shin recoil slightly, “Have you heard?”

              “I never hear things.” Shin pointed out calmly.

              “Pssh. This is the kind of thing that’s on the _news_ man!” Eugene sounded genuinely ecstatic.

              “I haven’t watched the news all day.” Shin sighed, half tempted to hang up the phone in order to continue working in peace.

              “Mettaton is coming to work at Moira’s and O.U.!” Eugene gushed, “A _movie star_ is coming to our little town man! How have you missed it all today? People are buzzing like crazy.”

              “I haven’t left the house today.” Shin cradled the phone against his shoulder with his face in order to keep working, “I had to take care of Cuspid and work on some things.”

              “You’re always working.” Eugene sighed, “I’m surprised you haven’t burned yourself out yet…and…Cuspid…that’s that bitty you got right? Isn’t that the feral one from the library?”

              “He’s not feral.” Shin snapped despite himself. Cuspid’s head peered around the corner curiously. Shin blushed bright red and hid his face behind one of his hands.

              “Wow..” Eugene whistled, “Protective already. I mean…I guess…that’s…good for you? Kind of? I just don’t want you coming in with a cast on both legs and bruises stretching from face to hip.”

              “Cuspid is fine with me.” The bandages on his fingers said otherwise, but Shin and Cuspid’s somewhat functioning relationship was absolutely none of Eugene’s business, “We’re both fine. Thank you for letting me know Mettaton- whoever that is- is moving to our town. Now I know to avoid the drama building for a while.”

              “You don’t even want to just meet him? This guy is the real deal Shin! A legit movie star is going to show up on our campus, but you just want to avoid him?” Eugene sounded confused.

              “W-Wherever he goes, h-his fans will f-follow.” Shin pointed out moodily, “So no thank you. Now, please let me get back to work Eugene. I need to get these tests graded.”

              “Fine. Fine.” Eugene huffed.

              Shin didn’t give a single shit that he probably just ticked off one of the only staff members at O.U. that somewhat liked him. Eugene- as nice as he was- simply didn’t _get_ Shin, and Shin feared telling the other man too much because friends always seemed to turn when a person least expected, wanted, or needed them too.

              “wE’ **r _e o_** _k_ **ay?** ” Cuspid called from the hallway.

              “U-Uh…I..um…l-like to think so?” Shin mumbled embarrassedly.

              Cuspid simply let out a little hum.

              Surprisingly, the bitey climbed back onto the couch with Shin. Cuspid didn’t sit on his lap or anything, but the sudden closeness was new. Shin…kind of enjoyed it- just a little. His hands still shook with anxiety though.

              _Hopefully the next round of medications will help._ He sighed, scratching his face a little. _I really hope they help…_

              Well, even if they didn’t, at least Shin had a new companion who might be able to.


	4. Chance Encounters

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I own nothing. Full disclaimer/links can be found in Ch.1
> 
> ...guess who was nauseated all of yesterday? this girl right here...jfc I'm so behind T-T  
> Anyways, latest chapter of Shin at last :) I managed to get half of it written yesterday, so it wasn't too terrible to get started on this morning. Now, I'm off to start working on the next chapter before grabbing some lunch.

              Trying to work with the college abuzz with the idea that a ‘superstar’ would be teaching there soon was damn near impossible- especially since the latest cocktail of medication only worsened Shin’s insomnia. Thus, he found his already thin patience fraying more easily. Even students who were usually on top of their work and notes started to slip into the gossip rings about the ‘hot celebrity’ set to arrive soon. Shin honestly thought about asking Blackwell to ban the name Mettaton in the classroom, but Blackwell had been one step ahead of him and promised to fail anyone who distracted the class with mentions of the new teacher.

              “I will never understand their fascination with him.” Blackwell sighed in defeat, resting his elbows on his podium in order to bury his face in his hands, “I don’t know whether to hate this Mettaton character because they’re all interested in monster history because they want to know about him or absolutely love him revitalizing their interest in the subject.”

              “I don’t know sir.” Shin mumbled in response, completely fatigued and not ready to have to swim through page after page of paperwork, “It’s a double edged sword either way.”

              “Fair point.” Blackwell groaned before picking his face up and watching Shin as the younger man gathered his things, “Your medication not letting you sleep?”

              “Not at all.” Shin’s voice cracked a little due to his exhaustion, “Cuspid’s starting to get annoyed by it actually.” He actually managed a small smile at the cranky bitey that glared at him, “He tried to make me stay home by busting the lock to the bedroom this morning.”

              Cuspid growled and bared his fangs at the sleepy human, tail lashing the air viciously. The bitty never enjoyed being portrayed as a ‘good guy’ for some reason. Shin figured it had something to do with his history in the bitty fighting rings, but the human felt like he should praise Cuspid for actually being more than the stereotype the security guards had tried to make him in order to justify their cruelty. Cuspid seemed to be recovering physically _and_ emotionally- though the latter was to a much smaller extent.

              “don’t care.” Cuspid hissed. His voice had slowly lost a large chunk of that broken throat distortion, but it still sounded raspy and spotty at times. For the most part, his unique voice only reversed backwards in recovery when he was genuinely angry, “didn’t do that.”

              “So my door magically broke?” Shin hummed. Lack of sleep left his inner brain filter with a few dozen holes in it. Cuspid snarled and curled his knees up to his chin to hide his face. Somewhat recovered wings flapped angrily before the bitty had to stop moving them because it hurt so much, “He’s cute sometimes.” Shin muttered, dragging a hand down his face.

              “You need sleep don’t you?” Blackwell raised a brow. Shin nodded, “Why don’t you take off early then? You won’t be able to do much with your brain half fried anyways.”

              “But they’re testing toda-“ Shin started.

              “They’re just taking the test. Besides, it won’t kill me to do some of my grading myself.” Blackwell huffed before walking over and patting Shin’s back, “The students will kill me if the person putting the notes and lectures online ends up in the hospital though. I think you doubt how much of a lifeline you are to some of these students.”

              “They don’t make it easy to have faith in that with how often they like to complain.” Shin slung his bags over his shoulder, “…Do you honestly want me to leave work early?”

              “Yes. I want you to be able to function above 20% Watanabe.” Blackwell gave him a stern look, “You are speaking with your psychologist and psychiatrist sometime soon since the reaction was this bad right?”

              “Mhm. I have an appointment with both Saturday.” Shin picked up Cuspid and held the bitty to his chest with shaky arms, “They’re thinking about maybe trying other methods besides medication…meditation, yoga, healthy living, whatever the hell that means…” He grumbled darkly. He knew that the professionals helping him genuinely wanted what was best for him. That didn’t mean their scrambled attempts at putting a bandage over a gunshot wound was endearing. At first, just talking to someone helped, but slowly his nightmares got worse. His anxiety had sky rocketed after all of the things surrounded his past became public and harassers made themselves known.

              In short, living became harder.

              “I’ll t-take care of myself Professor Blackwell.” Shin assured the older man, trailing after him as they walked out of the classroom to go get lunch, “…Should I just leave after lunch? Wait…I probably need to call-“

              “I can handle that.” Blackwell held up a hand, “You just go home and get some sleep if you can.”

              “Thank you sir.” Shin offered a brittle smile, “I do need to go shopping first though.” He held up Cuspid, “This one gets cranky if we’re out of honey.” _I also just need food in general. A person can only live off of scraps for a little while after all._

              Cuspid puffed up and grumbled at Shin incoherently before climbing into the human’s trench coat to avoid the light of day as the two men stepped out into the sunlight filled courtyard. Blackwell chuckled at the surprisingly cute display before giving Shin a warning look and glancing over at the entrance to the college. Shin let out a tired, slightly exhausted, mostly amused huff. He nodded at the professor in understanding. Blackwell nodded back and watched as Shin left the campus.

              “Cuspid?” Shin questioned, curling in on himself when a few of the students began to watch him leave early. A single orange eye peered out from under his trench coat. Honestly, the sharp nails digging into his shirt irritated his skin a little, but Shin didn’t have the heart to tell Cuspid that since the action seemed to bring the bitty some comfort, “Do you mind if I go to a larger store? We need a bit more than just food.”

              Cuspid nodded before moving closer to Shin’s armpit.

              Shin didn’t know why Cuspid hated sunlight so much. One would think that the former bitty fighter would enjoy being out and free, but the scarred veteran tended to get a sickly expression on his face whenever sunlight filtered into Shin’s home. Shin’s therapist had tried talking with Cuspid during Shin’s last visit. The bitty had been the poster boy for being uncooperative. It surprised both Shin and his therapist that Cuspid hadn’t tried to bust the door down in order to get out of the room. The therapist did walk away with a scuffed up arm and bitten fingers though.

              Shin really felt his fatigue when he entered the buzzing supermarket. Cuspid peeked out from his trench coat to hiss at someone who almost bumped into Shin and grew curious. The bitey climbed up on top of Shin’s head to get a better view as Shin grabbed a basket and pulled his list of food and cleaning supplies he needed to get out of his pocket. Cuspid- so far- had only been taken to the smaller store close to Shin’s home, so this would be a new experience that Shin hoped would be a good one.

              “Alright…let’s go get the food first.” Shin mumbled more so to himself. He smiled a little when Cuspid hummed in agreement, eye flicking across the crowd out of curiosity, “This interests you doesn’t it?” Shin laughed softly. Cuspid said nothing.

              People gave Shin a few weird looks because of the bitty on top of his head. Cuspid didn’t snarl at many people at least- just a few rude individuals that shoved by Shin to get to a product they wanted. Watching the jackasses turn a lovely shade of white upon hearing Cuspid’s unholy hisses made decent entertainment. The supermarket had all of the things that the small stores Shin usually frequented often didn’t have on hand when he needed them the most- his preferred kitchen cleaning products and two-in-one shampoo and conditioner being very popular products in Oliverdale. The only downside was that the food at the supermarket lacked the fresh, new quality the smaller stores had. At least the prices were cheaper.

              “Would you like a sample of our new honey flavored-“ A woman asked Shin, offering him a small cup of what looked like some kind of cereal. Cuspid swooped down and snatched it up to the woman’s shock and horror. She let out a startled yelp and backed away.

              “Cuspid.” Shin chided the bitty, “That was rude.” He looked at the woman and felt familiar fear bubbling up. Taking a few steps back, he ducked his head down and mumbled, “S-Sorry.” He bowed stiffly and walked away as his bitty made a disgusted noise and spat the cereal back into the cup. It must’ve not actually had honey in it.

              Shin made sure to throw the cup away a few aisles down from the woman who had been handing out the samples. Other people probably weren’t as picky about their honey products as Cuspid was, so Shin didn’t want any of them to get the wrong idea because Cuspid had spat it out.

              “Cuspid.” Shin tutted, “We need to work on your manners…” Cuspid made a low rumbling noise, “N-No buts. You can’t just be rude to e-everyone and a-anyone.”

              “w **h** _y_ **no _t_**?” Cuspid grumbled, biting Shin’s scalp in annoyance.

              “Y-You just…don’t…o-o-okay?” Shin mumbled, closing his eyes as memories of his mother’s harsh words made him shake more out of fear than fatigue, “Some p-people will react v-vi-i-iolently.” Shin tug his nails into his palms to help him calm down. Cuspid frowned and nipped his scalp questioningly, “Sorry….bad memories a-again.” Cuspid scratched his scalp softly- perhaps as a sign of comfort. Shin could never really tell sometimes, “L-Let’s just get finished shopping and go home.”

              Shin had to cut a few things off of their list because the items had gone up in price, and some of the heavier items were cut because he had to carry the bags home himself. He couldn’t exactly ask Cuspid to carry some of the items after all. There was one heavier item he _had_ to get though. The old fake rock he used to hide his spare key had been damaged during the last thunderstorm, so he needed to get a new one.

              _Did they really have to move them…_ Shin grumbled mentally, trying to locate the last item he had to have… _Dammit…Where are they? I didn’t get enough sleep to have to put up with this._ Cuspid’s fingers dug into his scalp when the sounds of one of the fork lifts rolled into the building through one of the larger doors in order to drop some things off.

              “Cuspid?” Shin questioned gently. Cuspid clawed at the side of his skull as the rattling of the forklift grew louder, “Cuspid, what’s wrong?” Shin reached up to try and pick up the bitey, but the bitty in question was having none of that. The shaking, whimpering bitty slid backwards to try and avoid Shin’s touch.

              _BANG!_

              Something on the forklift fell with a sharp, metallic clatter and shattered a few nearby pots. Cuspid launched himself off of Shin’s head and glided up to the top most shelf that Shin couldn’t reach comfortably. The stunned human dropped the fake rock he’d chosen into his basket and took a step back from the shelves to try and locate Cuspid.

              “Cuspid?” Shin called out, “Cuspid. Come back down. I-It’s okay…Cuspid…” Shin sighed. He worried his lip while he tried to think of a way to get the bitty to come down.

              “Is something the matter darling?”

              The new voice to his left sent Shin stumbling to the right. A tall person in a dark purple trench coat and black fedora cocked their head at him. Shin blinked a few times before realizing the slight sheen to the parts of the person’s face he could see was light reflecting off of metallic skin instead of sweat. He slowly realized the taller individual in front of him had to be some kind of purple, chrome, and black robot. A sweet smile crossed the robot’s face, and the hat was tipped backwards across thin black wires that made some kind of hair in order to allow the robot to give Shin less of a creepy smile.

              “I’m sorry darling. I didn’t mean to startle you.” The robot’s slightly buzzing voice caught Shin off guard a little, but the human managed to keep his face blank, “You were just standing here with the saddest look on your face. I couldn’t just walk away if you needed something.”

              “O-Oh…” Shin cleared his throat a little and clutched his weighed down basket with one hand, gesturing up to the top shelf with the other, “M-My bitty got scared and fled to the top most shelf. He’s a former fighting ring bitty, and I think that the loud noises from the forklift might’ve reminded him of something from his past.”

              “Ah…” The robot stood up on his tip toes just a little, “I found him darling. My, my…you really are frightened aren’t you- poor thing…”

              “B-Be careful.” Shin warned when the robot reached upwards to collect the bitty, “He gets v-violent when scared.”

              “I doubt he can do much to this body.” The monster chuckled and rapped his hands together, creating a low, metallic clang, “It may be a bit outdated since I haven’t used it in a year, but it’s still pretty sturdy. _I’ll_ be fine darling.” The playful smile turned to a slight frown, “I do worry about potentially stressing the poor thing out more than he already is though…Still, if he gets rough when he’s scared, he can’t exactly stay up there and put other people at risk.”

              Shin watched anxiously as the tall monster gently peered up on the top shelf and moved a hand toward Cuspid. The bitty snarled and clawed at the metallic hand only to do no damage. The robot was patient and waited until Cuspid calmed down a little before quickly scooping the bitey off of the top shelf and handing him over to Shin’s waiting hand. The human quickly tucked the riled up bitty against his chest, wincing when Cuspid clawed _through_ his shirt and clung to Shin by digging his nails into the human’s skin. The violent shaking and general signs that the bitty was more than likely suffering from some kind of panic attack kept Shin from feeling upset.

              “It’s okay Cuspid.” Shin hummed comfortingly, stroking his thumb up and down Cuspid’s back, “It’s alright…I’m here.”

              “Oh dear. He’s a real mess isn’t he?” The robot sighed and bent down to get a better look at Cuspid, “…look at those scars....” The monster shook his head and frowned, “I’ll never understand how people can put bitties through that kind of hell. It’s vile.”

              “I agree.” Shin sighed. The forklift beginning to move again caused Cuspid to duck under Shin’s trench coat once more, accidentally dragging sharp claws across Shin’s chest. He could feel small trickles of blood sliding down his torso, but the cuts weren’t deep enough for Shin to really worry about them, “It takes someone really sick in the head to take advantage of bitties like that…” Shin looked up at the stranger with a slight smile despite the fact he edged backwards a little, “Thank you for getting him down for me though. C-Cuspid has a few people t-that would l-love to see him be…p-put down due to his p-past…”

              The security guards at the college had made it well known that they would be gunning for Cuspid to be put down like a feral dog if the bitty hurt another student. Shin could understand their anger towards the bitty because of the damage the bitty had done to the students, but he had an inkling the security guards were also just miffed they’d been unable to catch him- a failure that had damaged their reputation a little. Thus, Shin had to be extra cautious when it came to his new companion. One slip up could cause a whole new world of problems Shin doubted he’d be able to deal with.

              “It was no problem darling.” The robot seemed to notice his discomfort with the close proximity and took a few half-steps back. Shin relaxed a little once there was more space between them, “I couldn’t just leave a cutie like yourself frowning.”

              Shin flushed. His blush became even worse when he remembered how patchy and gross looking his face got whenever it redden. His skin didn’t have one solid streak of red and instead randomly grew red in stain like patterns across his face and neck. It had been a while since someone had even tried flirting with him. His brain turned off for half of a second to try and process that.

              “I-I…uh…umm…” He shuffled, a bright faced, mumbling mess.

              “Oh, I’m sorry. Did I make you uncomfortable darling?” The robot apologized, “I have a tendency to call it like I see it, and that kind of honesty startles some people.”

              “I-I’m not uncomfortable.” Shin assured him, “J-Just…caught o-off guard…P-People don’t tend to find me attractive in any ways, s-so…ah…um…t-that was n-new.”

              “What?” The shocked gasp made Shin almost trip while standing still with how loud it, “Well now, that just sounds like a crime against beauty darling. How rude of them. I must say you have a very unique face, and in a world where everyone is trying to emulate someone, being unique to yourself is _very_ attractive. Hmph.” The robot crossed his arms and looked genuinely annoyed, “I swear humans have the queerest sense of aesthetic taste I’ve ever seen.”

              “A-Ahhh…” Shin’s mouth gaped open, dumfounded. Cuspid had finally stopped shaking as much- especially once the forklift left the building again. The bitty released Shin’s skin and made a slightly distressed noise upon discovering blood on his fingers. Cuspid peered out from Shin’s coat with a cautious eye, “I-I’m fine.” Shin whispered to him.

              “And the little bitty makes a return.” The robot leaned forward slightly, but still kept some space between himself and Shin, “Are you feeling better now darling? Just a little at the very least?”

              Cuspid stared at the monster for a few seconds, a dark frown and heavy brow marring his face before he snuggled back under Shin’s coat with a few low grumbles.

              “He’s not much of a p-people person…” Shin cleared his throat awkwardly, “N-Neither of us are r-really…I-I’m sorry we disturbed y-your shopping though.”

              “Darling, you didn’t disturb a thing. I came here to return something because it didn’t fit my other body properly.” The robot waved away Shin’s concerns flippantly, “I was actually just about to leave. A small pause to do a good deed isn’t bothersome.”

              “O-Oh…” Shin did feel a little better upon hearing that, “I see. W-Well, th-thank you again.”

              “It’s no problem.” The robot tipped his hat down and tucked his hands into his coat pocket, “I do need to leave though. Even if I’m using my outdated body, some people might recognize me. It was a pleasure to meet you…?” The robot cocked his head.

              “Watanabe. Shin Watanabe.” Shin responded, raising a slight brow.

              _Recognize you? Huh…?_

              “It was lovely to meet you Shin. Maybe we’ll see each other again.” The robot smiled, “Have a lovely day darling.”

              “You t-too…” Shin waved confusedly as he watched the robot quickly leave the store.

              “ _w **ei** r_ **d…** ” Cuspid whispered to Shin.

              “Agreed…” Shin nodded and began to walk to the nearest cash register. Now that the commotion with Cuspid had died down some, the fatigue came back, “Do you want to talk about what just happened?”

              “no.”

              “I figured…” Shin reached his spare hand up and rubbed Cuspid’s back through the trench coat, “I w-won’t push t-then…y-you _can_ talk to me though.”

              Cuspid made a soft noise of acknowledgement. Shin doubted the bitty would take him up on his offer any time soon however. It felt good to make the offer though.


	5. New Information

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I own nothing. Full disclaimer/links can be found in Ch.1
> 
> annndd some serious stuff and some fluffy stuff. Shin's a ball to write sometimes because his life tends to go from anxiety riddled depression to anxiety riddled embarrassment at the drop of a pin.

              The sound of something breaking woke Shin up from his dazed napping sometime that evening. With a weary sigh, he crawled out of bed and began to investigate. If there were shards on the floor, he could end up stepping on them in the morning on accident. _Why does he always have to break something?_ Shin honestly didn’t know how much more his wallet could take. Replacing a few things every now and then wasn’t too terrible. For some reason however, there had been a sharp increase in things breaking ever since the forklift issue about two days prior.

              “Cuspid?” Shin mumbled, rubbing his sleepy eyes with the back of his hands. Cuspid never tended to linger at the ‘crime scene’ after he broke something, so Shin often had to hunt the small creature down to make sure that the bitey hadn’t gotten injured. He blinked open his eyes lazily.

              They snapped open upon finding Cuspid still sitting beside the old mug that he had broken. The shaking bitty looked confused and terrified- like he had no idea how he had gotten near the broken item. The bitty was trying to piece it back together and startled upon hearing Shin’s voice. Cuspid flapped his wings and took a slightly defensive, panicked stance away from the mug.

              “Cuspid?” Shin dropped to his knees immediately, hoping the decrease in his size would help comfort the bitty more, “It’s okay. It’s just an old mug. Shh…” Shin held out calm hands, “Do you want to t-tell me why you keep b-breaking things?”

              “ _k_ e **e** p…?” Cuspid sounded very distressed, “ _I **’ve**_ b **een _do_** _in **g…**_ ho _w_ l **o _n_** g?”

              “Ever since you moved in with me…It’s not a big…” Shin paused, “Cuspid…are you not doing this intentionally?”

              Cuspid clawed at his face and shook his head.

              “Cuspid!” Shin slid closer, porcelain shards digging into his legs be damned. Shin picked the frightened bitty up, ignoring the painful swipes to his arms, “It’s okay Cuspid. It’s okay…” Cuspid calmed down and allowed Shin to tug him to his bare chest where the scratches from a few days prior still sat, scabbed over and gross looking.

              “ **i…j _u_** _st.._ wa **k** e _u **p…a**_ **n** d the _re’s **a**_ me **s** s…” Cuspid explained quietly.

              “Sleep walking?” Shin asked softly. Cuspid nodded. The human made a sympathetic noise and rubbed the back of the bitty’s skull with his thumb, “I’m sorry Cuspid. I never realized. You were always awake when I found you. I thought they were accidents or how you expressed annoyance.”

              The two stayed there quietly until Cuspid finally relaxed against Shin’s collarbone. The human stood up and brushed his knees off, plucking a few shards from his skin. He’d need to clean up the mess later. Cuspid needed most of his attention at that time.

              “Do you know what could be causing you to sleep walk?” Shin asked while he settled down on the couch. He couldn’t go back to his bedroom and accidentally forget to clean the mug up after all.

              “ **too _m_** _uc_ h fr _ee s **pac**_ e.” Cuspid responded, “ope _n_ **spac _es_** _me_ a **n fi** gh _ting._ ”

              “I see…” Shin frowned and sank lower onto the couch, “And when you weren’t fighting?”

              “ **a bo _x ba_** _re_ ly bi _gg **er**_ **th** _a_ n me. no **li _gh_** _t._ ” Cuspid shuddered, “they… _sun **ligh**_ **t...sh _ould…_** _they s **ai**_ d i _t **bu**_ **rned…** so… _it **wa**_ **s** a “ **sa** _fe”_ place.”

              “…any time you weren’t fighting?” Shin felt rage bubble up inside of him. That rage double when Cuspid nodded once more, “Cuspid…” He snuggled the bitty close, happy that he didn’t get chomped on. Instead, the bitey made a soft, unusual sound that had Shin smiling a little, “Hmph…j-jackasses…the l-lot of them.”

              The bitey eventually started to wriggle in Shin’s arms after some time had passed. To avoid getting part of his arm bitten off, Shin let the bitty go. He sat up and watched curiously as Cuspid scribbled something down on a piece of paper. His hand reached out and picked the paper up once Cuspid nudged it over with his foot and sat down on the coffee table with a soft growl.

              Shin didn’t quite understand what was on the paper at first. His blood turned to ice once he did.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

              **Hour One:** _Beginning of Stream. Potential side show match-ups presented. Main show match-    ups announced._

              **Hour Two:** _Preshow- tends to be violent demonstration of side show bitties. Often includes     birthing if the ring works with some breeders (carrier bitty is often impregnated again after     birthing if they don’t die._

              **Hour Three:** _First main show match-up begins. Very staged. Often betted on. Winner is recorded    in the prize bitty chambers._

              **Hour Four:** _First two side show match-ups._

              **Hour Five:** _Dead Zone (few viewers- usually the really bad kind) weak bitties of any age are      thrown in with more aggressive bitties to be ripped apart. Very bloody_

              **Hour Six:** _‘Pleasure’ Hour_

              **Hour Seven:** _Main Show_

              **Hour Eight:** _Second set of side show match-ups_

              **Hour Ten:** _Torture Time (me)_

              **Hour Eleven:** ‘ _Pleasure’ Hour_

              **Hour Twelve:** _Dead Zone_

              **Hour Thirteen:** _Final Main Show (me)_

              **Hour Fourteen:** _Final Side Show_

              **Hour Fifteen** : _Gambling results. ‘Narrative’ recap (most main shows have a ‘plot’)_

              **Hour Sixteen:** _Wind down and ending. Usually streaming prize chambers_

_____________________________________________________________________________________

              “Cuspid….” Shin’s hands almost tore the paper in his hands, “This is…What I think it is…i-isn’t it?”

              The bitey nodded. He gestured at his mangled body and gave Shin a ‘what did you expect?’ look.

              “I should give this to the police.” Shin put the page down before he tore it on accident. He decided then an there that he and Cuspid would be making a pit stop by the police station on their way to work tomorrow,“Come here…p-please?” Shin held out his hands. He didn’t want to drag Cuspid over in case the bitty was going through some kind of memory funk, but he really just needed to touch the bitty, to make sure that Cuspid really was sitting in his house safe and away from the kind of people who could create such a disgusting ‘show’.

              Cuspid walked over and allowed Shin to pick him up. The scarred bitty shoved Shin’s face away when the human tried to bring him up to his cheek though. Despite everything going through Shin’s head, he still managed to find enough humor in that to chuckle a little. Cuspid tugged on his eyebrows for the chuckle and glowered at him.

              “I can’t help it. Y-You remind me o-of a cat sometimes.” Shin admitted. Cuspid cocked his head and made a confused face, “…a-and you’ve n-never seen a cat before.”

              With answers Shin didn’t know whether he was grateful to have or not, the duo slowly wound back down. The human barely remembered to clean up the mess Cuspid had made before taking the bitty back to the bedroom for some sleep. The bitey slept curled around Shin’s arm instead of on the far edge of the bed like he usually did. The awkward positioning made Shin’s arm feel very stiff when he woke up the next morning, but Shin didn’t mind. Both he and Cuspid had actually had a decent night’s sleep for once after all.

              Cuspid chewed on some honey while Shin finished getting ready in the living room. One would think that would be impossible for a person to struggle to choose between two nearly identical black trench coats, but Shin somehow managed it. That monster actor- whatever his name was- would be coming to O.U. that day. Thus, Shin wanted to be able to blend into the shadows as much as he possibly could. His eyes flicked back and forth between the coats, evaluating each to try and determine which would draw less attention. Shin ultimately went with the one made of a flat, fabric material instead of his usual leather one.

              “Do you want to stay home t-today?” Shin questioned Cuspid. The bitty lazily opened his eye and raised a brow, “I-I know last n-night had to be hard o-on you….and the s-school will be busy with t-the new t-teacher…I don’t w-want you to push y-yourself…”

              “ **go _in_** g.” Cuspid responded after swallowing the piece of honey he’d been enjoying. With a few simple flaps of his still mostly injured wings, the bitey climbed onto Shin’s shoulder before sliding down into his trench coat like usual.

              “O-Okay. Let me know i-if things get t-too stressful.” Shin patted the bitty through the coat. Cuspid leaned out enough to give Shin a narrow eyed look, “You a-aren’t made of ice Cuspid.” The bitty returned to his normal perch with a few annoyed huffs.

              The police had been floored when Shin showed up with the streaming schedule Cuspid’s ring used. They were doubly impressed when the bitty revealed that it was the standard format for most rings. The officers then foolishly tried to ask if they could speak with Cuspid privately only for the bitty to hiss and bite the hell out of one of them.

              “H-He’s not big on s-strangers.” Shin bowed apologetically. Cuspid growled and snarled in his hands still, but the bitty didn’t actively lunge at the officers anymore, “I’m sorry. D-Do you n-ne-neeed a Band-Aid?”

              “I’m fine.” The female officer held her bitten finger to her shirt to stop the bleeding, “It was a stupid thing to ask. Besides, it was a simple bite- not like he tore off my finger.” She laughed, “Now, let’s see if we can be one step closer to stamping these damn things out!”

              _Only because you moved away fast enough._ Shin managed an anxious laugh himself.

              The officers were glad to have something they could spread around the area to help inform the public about bitty rings. The new information wouldn’t change much, but any little bit of difference could help them. Cuspid recoiled when they tried to make him out to be some kind of brave hero though. Shin decided that he would have to fake some kind of illness if they were called up by the mayor or something. Oliverdale liked to reward its citizens- even when they just wanted to be ignored. Shin’s introversion didn’t mean that he desired for the information to be useless though. He would’ve loved it if Cuspid’s information helped some bitties out. That doesn’t mean he would like dozens of cameras in his face though.

              “ **the _y_ _’re_** fo _ols_.” Cuspid mumbled inside of Shin’s jacket once they were a little ways away from the police station.

              “Hm?” Shin hummed.

              “ri **ngs _will_** _always **ex**_ **ist** …no **ma** tt _er w **hat**_.”

              Shin frowned and patted Cuspid’s back. As much as he hated to agree with Cuspid, the bitey had a valid point. Bitty fighting rings would rise and fall no matter what. There was nothing anyone could really do to stop them. Some of the sickos would keep doing it even if the consequences went far beyond what most people would tolerate.

              “I know…still…any d-damage we can do t-to them is worth it.” Shin’s voice fell into  a soft, hopeful whisper that almost sounded pathetic to his ears. Cuspid made a noise of agreement.

              The two fell into a slightly somber mood. That was normal for them in all honesty. Neither really had a ‘positive’ or ‘upbeat’ way of thinking, so moments of melancholy came and went. Their mood worsened upon arriving at O.U. to find a whole _sea_ of people flooding the front gate. Students, staff, and Oliverdale residents alike waited with baited breath for their ‘superstar to arrive’. Shin glared at the crowd. Here they were making fools of themselves over a goddamn singer while he just gave information about one of the cruelest fates a bitty could have to the police. It was amazing to see how shallow most people’s priorities were.

              “Let’s t-take the back e-entrance.” Shin grumbled, moving to follow the fence. It would make it a longer walk back to the history building, but a longer walk alone beat trying to fight his way through a crowd any day.

              The sheer amount of people trying to get onto the campus left Shin more than a little stunned. Even the side entrances were swarmed. _How is this guy supposed to work if he can’t even get onto school grounds?_ Shin cringed when he had to push his way through a gaggle of girls to try and get to the back entrance that only the staff new about.

              He was most of the way there when he spotted what looked like the robot stranger he’d met a few days prior. This robot had the same color scheme, but was thinner and had longer hair and lashes. The voice was the same though. The robot also wore the same coat.

              “I need to speak with the dean though.” The robot said into a phone, “I know that they want to ask questions, but I’m trying to _work_ right now darling….No. I’m not going back.” The robot made an insulted noise, “You think I’m going to go up groveling to them after what they did to my Blooky!? You can kiss my perfect metallic ass! I’ll find a way inside.” The monster hung up the phone and let out a low groan.

              “U-Uh…are you trying to g-get on campus?” Shin questioned before he could stop himself. The monster startled and whipped his head around. The slightly perverted part of Shin’s brain registered that the body he was looking at definitely had some sort of sex appeal, “H-Hello again.”

              “Shin?” The robot cocked his head and joined Shin on the private path that walked around the gate surrounding the campus. They were currently in the part that overlapped with the park, allowing some sense of privacy, “What are you doing here?”

              “I w-work here. Th-there are c-crowds waiting for that…uh…I-I c-can’t remember his name. S-Some celebrity.” Shin gestured backwards with his head, “B-Back at the front gate…I d-decided to try and go to the back e-entrance. Only s-staff know about it. W-Why are you here?”

              The robot actually seemed to…blush? Was that fake silvery skin over a body? Maybe it was…

              “I’m sorry my arrival seems to have caused you so much trouble darling.” The robot sighed.

              “Hm?” Shin cocked his head.

              “Do you have no idea who I am?” The monster looked genuinely shocked.

              “Am…Am I s-supposed to?” Shin questioned. Cuspid peeked his head out to look at the monster.

              “…well…I…huh…” The monster crossed his arms before clearing his throat a little, “Well darling, my name is Mettaton. I used to do some acting and singing back in the Underground before I fell ill and actually managed to find some work in Hollywood here on the surface. I proud to say that my work has produced me some fame, but I’ve decided to move onto teaching my craft to others instead of doing it myself…a way to give back to the people who helped make me in a way.”

              “….OOOOOHHHHH….” Shin blinked, “Well…now I k-kind of feel bad f-for cursing y-your name on my w-way to work.” He chuckled a little.

              “You were what?” Mettaton cocked his head.

              “I-I don’t like crowds, s-so…I was u-unhappy this morning.” Shin shrugged and blushed himself, “…You need to s-speak with the dean right? C-Come with me. I-I can help you get on campus.”

              “Really?” Mettaton’s eyes glowed bright purple with glee. Shin nodded. Mettaton threw his arms around the human and pressed a kiss to his cheek, “Thank you darling!”

              Shin stood in stunned silence for a couple of heartbeats. His brain had grinded to a complete halt, and Cuspid began to growl at Mettaton in warning. _How long has it been since someone’s hugged me?...oh right…a few years…_

              “Darling?” Mettaton frowned, stepping back upon remembering Shin’s discomfort from the store, “Oh, I’m sorry. I just got too excited. You’re a real life saver right now, so I…ah…I’m sorry.” Mettaton chuckled sadly.

              “N-N-No…I-I..u-uhhh….” Shin frantically fumbled for something to stay, “I-I’m…s-s-s-shyyy…” He winced when his voice cracked. Cuspid let out a low, annoyed groan at Shin’s blushing word vomit as the human continued to babble in stuttered, broken words, “a-aahh…u-u-uhmmm…let…let’s j-just go?” Shin offered timidly.

              “Of course darling.” Mettaton smiled patiently, “I’m sorry again.”

              Shin shook his head and began to lead the monster to the back entrance.

              _~~Considering how red you are, one might think you might want to lead him to your back entrance.~~_

              Shin’s internal screaming didn’t stop until he dropped Mettaton off at the dean’s office with a stilted good-bye. By that point though, Cuspid had to move out of the trench coat because Shin’s blush made it too hot to stay pressed against his chest.


	6. Lunch Date

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I own nothing. Full disclaimer/links can be found in Ch.1
> 
> Shin being an awkward, precious child? Check. Cuspid being a vulgar, dirty minded cretin? Check.  
> Yay :)

              Life on O.U.’s campus with Mettaton flip flopping between it and Moira’s quickly became a personal kind of hell for Shin. The drama building and the history building were the conjoined twin on campus, so Shin had to fight his way through hordes of Mettaton’s ‘adoring fans’ to do his day-to-day work. These dear ‘fans’ tended to be harsh and vicious to anyone they thought was trying to ‘steal their view’. They also didn’t appreciate the way Mettaton would wave and smile at Shin either.

              _Mettaton, you seem like a decent man._ Shin gritted his teeth and weakly waved back from the second floor of the building after Mettaton got his attention. He had around one hundred pairs of angry, jealous eyes slam down on him for the friendly acknowledgement. _Please stop paying me attention though- seriously._

              “…g **rr _rr._** ” Cuspid hissed at a group of angry looking fangirls as they tried to approach Shin. Healed wings flapped dangerously, and his claws had grown back from their previous mangled state into rather threatening looking talons.

              “Can I help you?” Shin asked quietly, shifting away from them instinctually. The scents of their perfume, hair spray, and make-up reminded him too much of his mother. He felt his stomach churn when they stupidly came closer again. Cuspid let out another threatening noise- this time louder and more impactful than the last one, “I need to get to the classroom, but if you have any questions you needed answered about Monster-Human history, I can spare a couple of minutes.”

              “Who are you?” One of the girls asked- actually managing to not sound accusatory, “Like…how do you know Mettaton?” As if on cue, the other girls all swooned.

              “Mettaton and I work on the same campus. That’s how we know each other.” Shin responded simply before turning on his heel. His back protested at the idea of turning away from a group of potentially hostile women. He didn’t have much of a choice though.

              “But like…why does he pay such close attention to… _you._ ” Ah, there was the accusatory, disgusted tone he expected.

              “I’ve been trying my best to help him adjust to his new life on campus. It’s a hard transition, so I wanted to help make it as comfortable as possible.” Shin could feel his patience waning. He also felt his fear ramp up as they took a step towards him again. Only this time, they fanned out a little more. He could tell that they were gunning to pin him.

              “…so…you like…want to get with him huh?” One of the girls looked Shin up and down like he was a piece of hot horse shit on steaming concrete.

              “No.” Shin quickly made a few subtle moves in the direction he needed to be in _and_ get out of the small semi-circle they’d been forming around him, “N-Now leave me b-be.”

              “Holy shit ew. He’s got a stutter.”

              “Oh my god. Really? How lame.”

              Shin gritted his teeth and willed his embarrassed flush to go down. He felt some shame and humiliation begin to crawl up his back. Cuspid noticed his growing distress and actually swiped in the direction of the girls. That got them to pause and take a step back. Once they weren’t as close, Shin felt like he could breathe easier. Old memories of belts lashing against his back made his hands shake too much, so he had to tuck them in his pockets lest they mistook his anxiety for fear. His mind raced to find a way to diffuse the situation safely. The last thing Shin wanted to do was make things even worse for himself.

              “Is there something the matter? Why on earth is the hallway blocked off?” A familiar metallic voice made Shin equal parts thankful and bitter. Mettaton raised a brow as he surveyed the scene. Curiosity quickly turned into slight anger and annoyance, “Please do tell me that you darlings aren’t bothering Mr. Watanabe. I’d be _severely disappointed_ if I learned someone who’d been so nice to me was being treated poorly.”

              “M-M-Me…Metta..etta…” The girls began to fan themselves and squeal a little.

              “Focus darlings.” Mettaton snapped his fingers, making a loud metallic scratch sound through the hallway, “I asked a question, and your answer determines whether or not I have security escort you out of the building.”

              “We weren’t bothering him!”

              “We’d never bother one of your friends Mettaton.”

              “We love you like..waaaayy too much to do that.”

              The girls lied through their teeth, surrounding Mettaton and invading his personal space without even asking. Shin cringed in sympathy as he could see even the starlet was growing unhappy with their actions. Mettaton gave Shin a questioning look that asked for the truth. Shin shook his head and let out a slightly somber noise of annoyance. Mettaton’s eyes narrowed at the crowd. He snapped his fingers to get the attention of the security guards.

              “Please have these students either removed from the building or escorted directly to their class.” Mettaton ordered loudly over the gaggle of girls, “They’re causing a commotion and harassing a staff member.”

              The security guards on duty were the ones who didn’t like Shin because he took Cuspid in- which explained why the harassment had even reached such a level in the first place. The guards didn’t look eager to help Shin, but they couldn’t exactly ignore _Mettaton._ Thus, the women were removed immediately, whining and frothing at the mouth the entire way. Mettaton watched the scene with sad eyes as he crossed his arms and walked over to stand beside Shin. He didn’t crowd the young man or reach out in an attempt to touch him. Still, Shin felt some comfort in knowing that he wasn’t alone.

              “…was this…a repeat offense?” Mettaton questioned quietly.

              “No. This was the first time they’ve ever tried getting in my face.” Shin assured him, picking Cuspid up from his shoulder to hold the bitty in his shaking hands. Having something to anchor himself allowed him to calm down faster, “Usually, it’s just death glares from across the hall and the occasional mouthing of ‘fuck off’. I guess they’re starting to get pushier.”

              “They’ve been doing that?” Mettaton’s jaw dropped. Shin felt bad when sad, shocked light purple eyes looked at him. Mettaton looked so ashamed as he shook his head, “I thought being a star on the surface would be the most amazing thing…instead I have a horde of rabid ‘fans’ ready to tear random strangers apart because I wave at them and sometimes say hello….I’m so sorry darling. I had no idea they were doing such things.”

              “I-It’s fine M-Mettaton.” Shin tried his best to assure the obviously distressed robot, “I didn’t r-really pay them m-much mind.”

              “It’s not fine.” Mettaton frowned, “It is _far_ from fine. They can’t think that this kind of behavior is acceptable by any stretch of the imagination.” Mettaton turned to look at Shin, “Let me know if they keep bothering you darling.”

              “Uh…s-sure…” Shin rubbed Cuspid’s chin. The bitey hummed against the touch, “I…um…h-honestly didn’t...expect…u-uh..”

              “Expect that I’d find issue with it?” Mettaton raised a brow. Shin blushed and nodded, “I suppose that’s understandable. People are constantly saying that I should rejoice because of my fanbase, but those people don’t have to worry about their friends and family being harassed on a daily basis. Let me tell you darling, being a star in the Underground was much better. At least down there, I didn’t have to worry about someone trying to break my door down at four in the morning for an autograph. I can’t believe the surface just lets this kind of behavior slide.”

              “W-Well…we a-are bigger. I-It’s a bit h-harder to c-control a crowd the l-larger it g-gets.” Shin offered up as a partial explanation.

              “That’s true I suppose.” Mettaton shook his head, “Still, it’s unacceptable. I’m a star to be appreciated, not trampled on.” The robot huffed and puffed out his surprisingly pliable metal cheeks.

              “I-Is that why y-you q-quit?” Shin had done some research after running into Mettaton and learning that the monster would be teaching part time at O.U. He figured being informed would make future conversations a bit easier. Thus, he knew that Mettaton had suddenly decided to quit working after a large movie that had directors and actors all scrambling to get him into their films and TV shows. It was a stunning display no one expected, but Mettaton had been adamant in all of his interviews.

              “No. I quit because I learned that my cousin’s work was being treated like garbage by Hollywood.” Mettaton’s eyes burned with a dangerous orchid light, “I told them point blank that my cousin and I were a package deal and that I would quit if my cousin wasn’t allowed to provide music for the movie. They didn’t believe me and paid the price.” Mettaton rolled his eyes and gave Shin a ‘how can people be so stupid look’ before crossing his arms, “Needless to say, I told them all to kiss my shiny keister after I found out and left. Blooky’s music has been doing better lately since he quit trying to deal with Hollywood. Now, he’s an independent streamer that impressed some people on Broadway…I’m so proud of him.” Mettaton smiled and actually looked genuinely proud.

              “I see…” Shin blinked a couple of times. Everything he’d read about Mettaton had indicated the monster to be a diva, so suddenly learning the popular star was actually a family man too left Shin more than a little stunned, “You and y-your cousin are close then?”

              “Oh yes.” Mettaton beamed before his smile became a bit more somber, “My parents were killed by a human around the same time Alphys- a dear friend of mine- also lost her father. Blooky’s parents took me in after that, so I guess you could say it was destiny that we grew up to be so close.” Mettaton chuckled.

              “H-Huh…I’m k-kind of close with m-my cousin myself a-actually.” Shin offered, trying to keep the conversation from becoming awkward, “We aren’t s-super close, b-but he’s been s-supportive since I was 18….a-annoying too…” Shin frowned at the ground a little.

              “Like the sibling you never asked for huh?” Mettaton’s chuckle turned into an all-out giggle, “They do seem to do that don’t they darling?” Shin blushed red and nodded in agreement. Cuspid looked between the two before locking gazes with Shin and raising his brow. Shin cocked his head.

              Cuspid’s resulting hand gesture had Shin shoving the naughty bitty into his trench coat, face a splotchy _mess_ of red. Never before had he been _so fucking glad_ that he kept his hair long. Mettaton- thank _god_ \- hadn’t noticed Cuspid’s vulgar behavior.

              “Anyways darling, I’m sorry that they’ve been bothering you so much. Is there any way I could make it up to you?” Mettaton asked, angling his head to the side some and resembling a puppy in a way.

              “N-No..uh…I-I mean…you don’t n-need to make up for anything M-Mettaton.” Shin tried his best to assure the other man. Mettaton pouted and gave him a disbelieving look, “R-Really…”

              “You’ve been harassed by my fans because I was negligent.” Mettaton insisted. Unlike most people who grew physically closer to make a point, Mettaton kept the distance between them. That helped Shin not start to panic as much.

              “I-I…uh…uumm..u…e-e-ea-eat l-lu-u-unch w-with me t-t-then?” Shin mumbled. Cuspid shot him a dirty look from where he’d been shoved into the trench coat before chomping down on Shin’s thumb. The human was actually somewhat grateful for the physical pain. It helped him focus, “I…don’t really know of anything y-you could do be-e-esides that.”

              “Eat lunch with you? That’s it?” Mettaton raised his brows. Shin nodded firmly, “…Darling, that really isn’t asking much at all. Well, if that’s what you want, count me as your lunch date for the next week at least.” The monster winked at him.

              Shin was surprised that the sheer amount of internal screaming in his head wasn’t audible to the outside world. _Lunch date…lunch date? Did he say…He said lunch date…he actually said lunch date. OHMYGODHEACTUALLY SAID LUNCH DATE._ Shin almost fell sideways. Mettaton giggled a little at his slightly over dramatic reaction, but the laughter didn’t come off as vicious or mean- slightly playful instead. Thus, Shin didn’t start freaking out about it.

              “O-Okay.” Shin nodded a little, “Okay.”

              “a _lre **ad**_ **y sa** id t _h_ **at.** ” Cuspid nipped his hand again. Shin shook his head and glowered at the bitey before offering Mettaton a timid smile.

              “Uh…s-sorry.” Shin apologized.

              “Don’t be darling.” Mettaton said. His phone beeped, “Oh shoot. Darling, we’re both late.” The robot blushed a little, “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to keep you this long!”

              “I-It’s fine.” Shin promised him, “M-My class is c-close by. P-Promise.”

              Mettaton apologized a few more times as the two walked together down the hallway. Shin had to leave first since his class really _was_ the closer of the two. The classroom was abuzz when he stepped foot inside, and he felt terrible upon seeing Blackwell visibly sigh in relief upon noticing him.

              “Did something happen?” Blackwell mouthed quietly. Shin gave him a noncommittal shrug and a‘kind of’ look that made the older man roll his eyes before glaring at the students, “Quiet! Yes. Yes. I know you’re all overjoyed to learn that Mr. Watanabe is with us today. Now! We need to go over the human motivations of the Bloodlight War, so shut it!”

              Shin settled in his usual back seat of the class and began to pull out his equipment. Cuspid let out an annoyed huff of breath upon finally being freed. Shin gave him a low, annoyed look for his earlier vulgarity, but Cuspid just smirked at him- the little shit- and settled down into a resting position. For the first time in his life, Shin had a difficult time focusing on the tasks he had to do. He quickly realized that that day would probably go down as one of his most unproductive days in history.

              The students and Blackwell noticed his off behavior, but most of them were too polite to question it. He was getting work done- just not as much as usual. Shin didn’t know whether to be flattered that they all seemed to care so much or be insulted that they only cared when it could affect their ability to get notes after class. Torn between the two emotions, Shin decided to just turn off his heart for the next few hours to try and focus on getting _anything_ done.

              Of course, what little productivity he did have slowly started to chip away as lunch grew closer and closer. Shin felt everything from nauseating anxiety to sickening hope within the span of about ten minutes while slowly packing his things up. Cuspid had noticed his shift in mood sometime during the second class for that day and crawled onto his head to try and help him calm down. It was a sweet gesture despite being completely unsuccessful.

              “Shin?” Blackwell cleared his throat. Shin almost fumbled his laptop, “Oh goodness…Shin. Do I need to send you home early again?”

              “N-No sir…I’m just…uh…a bit more nervous than usual…I…so…someone’s eating lunch with m-me for a change, and….and…” Shin slowly began to mumble the word ‘and’ over and over.

              “And?” Blackwell questioned, raising a brow.

              “How do you have conversations that don’t end in an awkward, flaming shit show?” Shin questioned, turning to face the professor and looking more than a little desperate, “I really don’t want this to blow up in my face.”

              “Shin. Breathe.” Blackwell held up his hands and moved them up and down to help Shin focus on breathing, “I doubt your lunch will be too much different. Just be calm and talk when it feels natural to do so. There’s nothing wrong with silence.”

              “There is plenty wrong with silence…” Shin muttered. Cuspid bit his ear, “Ow…”

              “There isn’t.” Blackwell assured him, “Natural pauses in conversation happen Shin. Just wait for them to pass. You’ll be fine.”

              “…if you say so sir…” Shin mumbled, not sounding comforted at all.

              Blackwell spent the next ten minutes trying to give Shin some sort of pep talk, but the distracted teaching assistant was too preoccupied with ‘what if’ scenarios to pay him too much mind. This whole ‘lunch date’ could be a cruel prank or something way less than he was making it out to be. His mind began to run around ideas of Mettaton suddenly spurning him for no reason, and his heart decided that it probably couldn’t take that kind of abuse.

              Shin was a shaking mess when he walked out into the courtyard with his lunch. He settled down at his favorite spot and waited. Cuspid began to eat, but Shin was too nervous to try and swallow anything. He’d probably just throw it back up. He tore at the grass with trembling hands, ignoring Cuspid’s attempts to try and calm him down.

              “Hello there darling!”

              Shin’s head rose up to look at Mettaton who sat down beside him.

              “I almost couldn’t spot you in that dark coat darling.” Mettaton chuckled and rested his back against the tree, “I guess it’s a good thing Alphys convinced me to keep the superior eyesight….Are you not going to eat darling?” Mettaton had noticed his food.

              “I was waiting on you…um…are you not eating?” Shin cocked his head.

              “Oh I am.” Mettaton held up a thermos, “I just have to eat from home. This body doesn’t have a proper digestive system yet, so I can’t try and eat normal food.”

              “O-Oh…” Shin watched as Mettaton took a sip from his thermos.

              There was a pregnant pause.

              Shin started to panic.

              Then Mettaton calmly began to start conversation about O.U.’s campus, and Shin was amazed at how natural the conversation felt.

              _Maybe Blackwell was right…_

              …. _I’m not telling him that though. He’s already got a big enough ego._


	7. Out of the Blue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I own nothing. Full disclaimer/links can be found in Ch.1
> 
> ...cue awkward, cute cringe!

              “Shin darling.” Mettaton waved as he approached Shin. The human looked up from the countless papers he had to grade and the stray bits of food here and there on his lap to give the robot a half-hearted smile. Cuspid lazily opened one eye at hearing his human’s name, but closed it once more upon realizing that it was just Mettaton, “You’re working at this hour? This is when you should be _eating_ darling.” Mettaton frowned and tapped Shin’s nose as he sat down with a few inches of space between them. Shin stared cross eyed at his nose for a little bit during the brief period of time when his brain shut down into an incoherent buzz. His face had its usual splotchy red appearance once he uncrossed his eyes and swallowed.

              “I-I’m behind.” Shin mumbled, spinning his pen in between his fingers in order to calm himself down, “There’s s-so much t-to get done…” Honestly, he’d been having issues concentrating ever since he and Mettaton started eating lunch together; however, his ‘daydreams’ were more like nightmarish ‘what if’ scenarios of the way each new encounter could go horribly wrong. His anxiety had worsened to an extent when it came to Mettaton. Shin knew not to blame the unwitting monster though. Mettaton probably didn’t realize the effect he had on Shin.

              “Do you need help darling? If it’s just simple grading, I might be able to help.” Mettaton offered, leaning just a little bit closer in order to get a look at what Shin was working on.

              “They’re all short answer.” Shin warned. He wasn’t about to insinuate that a monster didn’t know the monster half of Monster-Human history, but he didn’t want Mettaton to get bored either.

              “That’s no big deal.” Mettaton held out a hand and smiled at him, “You need to eat darling. It’s hard to be spectacular when you’re running on fumes.”

              “I-I don’t t-think I’m spectacular t-to begin with.” Shin reluctantly handed over some of the tests he had to grade and one of his red grading pens, “S-So…I don’t g-get the s-sentiment.”

              “Darling.” Mettaton huffed and rapped his knuckles against Shin’s head, “Honestly…you are amazing. I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone put so much effort in something.” The robot let out a noise of fond annoyance, “You should really give yourself more credit. I know it would make your professor worry less.”

              “..H-huh? Professor Blackwell…?” Shin’s brows knitted together, “I don’t t-think he worries a-as much you’re thinking h-he does.”

              “Darling, he double checks to make sure you’ve gotten off of the campus safely before he even thinks about leaving. Something about you not doing well during the afterhours rush?” Mettaton was referring to the brief period of chaos that occurred every day when all of the classes released, and O.U.’s campus crawled with students eager to chat and party. The high energy left Shin feeling terrible and vulnerable because it was a time when all of the students didn’t care and would simply approach him to ask the most _mundane_ of questions. Sometimes, he’d end up just staying in the library until midnight as it was his one sanctuary.

              “A l-large crowd of people makes me anxious…well…more anxious than I already am.” Shin responded quietly, fighting the urge to flip up his collar and hide behind it, “I had no idea he made s-sure I got off of campus b-before leaving though…”

              “Cuties like you make everyone worry darling.” Mettaton giggled, “People just want to wrap you up in a hug and kiss all of your troubles away.”

              _~~If you aren’t offering, don’t tease me please…~~_

              Cuspid snorted and had to roll to the side to avoid an annoyed pen-poke from a blushing Shin.

              “…W-Whatever you say Mettaton.” Shin ducked his head down and let his hair fall between them like a wall. Mettaton recognized the gesture for what it was and simply began to grade the tests while humming some pop song under his breath. The silence that fell between them didn’t have an awkwardness or stiffness to it all. It felt nice to not have to carry on a long, pointless conversation.

              “Shin!”

              The teaching assistant almost choked on his sandwich when Eugene jogged over. Mettaton made a soft, whirring ‘hmmm?’ sound and cocked his head as the campus all-star approached them with a slight frown.

              “Eugene?” Shin questioned, uncertain of what he could want. By Eugene’s standards, he should be ‘improving’ since he was actually sitting with another person during lunch, “Is something the matter?”

              “I just wanted to make sure you were okay.” Eugene panted, bending forward and resting his hands on his knees, “But from the looks of it, you haven’t been back to your building yet have you?”

              “Has something happened? What’s going on?” Food became an afterthought. Was Professor Blackwell injured? Had something horrible happened in the building like a fire or a suicide?

              “Someone…well….” Eugene sighed, “Someone left a nasty prank in Blackwell’s- and well…your usual classroom. It was pretty mean spirited, so I want to make sure that you were okay.”

              “A prank in the classroom? I haven’t been back in the past two hours.” Shin had been too busy in the library preparing a study guide for the class to go back after Blackwell had sent him out to get that task done, “Was anything permanently damaged?”

              “No. All of it was cleanable…I just…you…don’t seem particularly offended someone tried to prank you.” Eugene’s brow furrowed.

              “They hazed me for three years Eugene. A stupid prank isn’t going to hurt my feelings anymore.” _At least, I won’t let them or anyone know that it hurt me._ Shin knew well enough that letting your tormentors know how much you cried after their cruelty only made them more vicious, “What did they even do?”

              Eugene cast a quick look over at Mettaton, hesitation written all over his face.

              “They um…had some rather pornographic material of yourself and Mr. Mettaton playing on the projector as well as some crude language written on it and a resignation form taped to the board.” Eugene’s face was bright red, “We could all tell the pictures were doctored, but some people still found the whole thing ‘funny’…somehow.”

              “Well….” Shin’s cheeks burned bright red, “I g-guess my interest is kind of obvious…T-To bad they were lazy from t-the sounds of it….H-Honestly…” He shook his head.

              “Your interest?” Mettaton and Eugene asked at the same time as Shin took a sip of his water.

              “Do you think I’d just randomly sit with anyone during lunch?” Shin cocked his head before ducking his face away to hide his blush, “I m-mean…that k-kind of change in b-behavior isn’t e-exactly subtle.”

              Mettaton and Eugene both stared at Shin point blank. Small parts of Shin were slowly breaking apart at their eerie silence, and it took all of his self-control to not grab Cuspid and his things and _run_. Cuspid got up and crawled onto Shin’s shoulder, growling at the two other men in warning.

              “What?” Shin huffed, “I’m not a soulless machine.” He looked away and shifted a little to the right in an attempt to get away from the two, “Is that all you wanted to tell me Eugene?”

              “Uh…yeah…pretty much…” Eugene still sounded dumfounded as he looked between Mettaton and Shin. It was apparent his mind was trying to figure out if there was actually anything going on between the two of them. Shin raised his head up and over enough to see Eugene raise brows at Mettaton and flick his eyes over at Shin.

              Mettaton….

              …blushed.

              Shin’s internal screaming volume cranked up to over 9000, and he reached up and scooped Cuspid off of his shoulder to hold the riled up bitty close. Cuspid nipped his fingers for the sudden hands on attitude. The blushing human was too busy trying to stare a hole through his thighs to really care though.

              _Does that mean think what I think it means?...no…probably not…I’m just being too hopeful, but…I wouldn’t…I…I wouldn’t_ mind _a date with Mettaton._ Shin could feel his panic and his hope intermingling in ways he doubted he could handle. _I…what does this MEAN Mettaton?_

              “I see um…well…I should…probably go.” Eugene backpedaled, blushing brightly himself upon realizing that he was third wheeling- _hard_ , “You two have fun…just not too much fun on campus.”

              “I will throw Cuspid at you if you do not leave _now._ ” Shin growled in warning, eyes snapping up to glare at Eugene for the poorly timed joke. His mental state was already tanking. He didn’t need Eugene’s poor humor to help in that regard.

              “Ah. Right.” Eugene began to step away, “By the way Shin, look out for some guys in red jackets. They were asking for you at the front office, but the secretaries turned them away for being rather…sketchy.”

              “Thank you for the warning.” Shin gritted out, still obviously not about to let Eugene linger any longer than necessary. The other human wisely opted to walk away.

              “ **yo _u_** _ar_ e s _o_ s **tr _ange_**.” Cuspid grumbled in defeat into Shin’s palm.

              “…I know.” Shin griped.

              The silence that fell between him and Mettaton _this time_ was awkward.

              “I…um…M-M-Me-Me-e-et-ttaton…” Shin swallowed and stroked circles into Cuspid’s skull. The bitty enjoyed the soft attention, but kept glaring at the robot who had been…eerily silent since Shin opened his mouth.

              “So tell me darling.” Mettaton went back to work on grading the tests, a light blush still on his cheeks, “Did you ever have any intention of actually telling me directly or were you just going to let it fester in the shadows?”

              “…I t-think that’s k-kind of obvious isn’t i-it?” Shin mumbled, his panic ramping up and ego deflating, “D-Do you…want m-me to l-leave?”

              “Of course not.” Mettaton’s hand shot out immediately as though to land on his forearm. Shin flinched backwards, causing Mettaton to pause, “Sorry darling. Instinct. I do not want you to leave and….Shin look at me darling. Please?”

              The soft voice had to have been made of some kind of magic because Shin actually looked up at Mettaton through his hair. The monster was smiling at him, light blush darkening once Shin met his gaze. There was a brief pause where Shin wondered if Mettaton was going to-

              Cuspid growled and bit Shin’s hand until the human let him go. The bitty then proceeded to crawl into Shin’s computer bag like he was ‘giving them some privacy’. The sudden action threw both Shin and Mettaton through a slight loop. The two shared another look and began to just laugh. Somehow the two ended up sitting only a couple of inches apart after the laughter died down.

              “I’m sorry darling.” Mettaton hummed, still giggling a little, “I just…well…I didn’t quite know how to read you, and I worried that you’d do something out of obligation instead of actual interest if I told you how I was feeling.”

              “I..um…I-I…” Shin had mostly recovered from laughing. He was still an awkward, precious child however. Mettaton waited patiently for him to finish his train of thought, “I w-was thinking along t-the same lines, b-but I mostly t-thought you’d j-just shoot me down. I m-mean…you’re a c-celebrity…and w-we’ve only known e-each other a l-little while…”

              “Darling, you ask someone out on a date to get to know them in the first place.” Mettaton scolded him light heartedly, “Are you asking me now though?”           

              “U-Uh…um…yes?” Shin hated himself for how badly his voice squeaked at the end there. he cleared his throat and scratched at his ankles with his nails in an attempt to calm himself down, “Only if y-y-yo-o-ou would l-like to of course.”

              “I would love to darling.” Mettaton smiled brightly and a thoughtful look crossed his face. Shin jumped a little when cool lips pressed against his temple, “Calm down darling. I only bite when I’m asked to.” He teased and settled back down to continue grading the tests. A happy flush lingered on his cheeks, “It’s been so long since someone asked me on a date that wasn’t just a publicity stunt…Let’s have fun darling. Do you have any place in mind?”

              “T-There’s an old theater we c-could go to.” Shin offered, also focusing back on the tests. Work was a lovely distraction from the way his brain was frying itself. The old theater he mentioned had been one of his few sanctuaries growing up. The place was so old and musty, Fredericka refused to go near it. He still suffered beatings when the staff would finally eject him from the building, but the brief respite the place provided him in his youth made him adore the place, “U-Unless working in Hollywood has turned you off from movies all together.”

              “It most certainly hasn’t darling. I’ve actually never had the opportunity to see a movie on the big screen- too busy filming everything to actually _go_ see it after everything.” Mettaton mused, “This will be interesting darling.” Mettaton nudged Shin’s shoulder with his, “We might want to pick something Cuspid won’t scoff at though. I imagine a moody bitey and a movie theater wouldn’t mix well.”

              “Y-Yeah.” Shin nodded in agreement, a small smile playing on his lips.

              He returned to the classroom feeling extremely light for a change. Cuspid had to tug on his sleeve a few times to keep the giddy human from walking into objects, but Shin felt too happy to really be bothered by anything. It almost felt like things were going right for a change. Blackwell noticed his improved mood and gave him a sly thumbs up. Again, Shin was too happy. He couldn’t even be flustered.

              He left the campus humming some old Japanese tune under his breath.

              The humming stopped when someone slammed something into his back.

              He stumbled, wheezing and gasping for air as Cuspid leapt out from his trench coat and snarled at the two, red-clad attackers. Shin quickly covered Cuspid before he could be sprayed with something. The chemical smell burned Shin’s nose, but since he took the brunt of the blast, Cuspid could launch upwards from under him and rake his claws down one of the attackers' faces, blinding the jackass in the process. The bat wielding one tried to swat Cuspid out of the sky. The veteran fighter simply grabbed the bat and twisted it until the attacker had to release it. Cuspid then proceeded to flip the bat around and crack it across the attacker’s face.

              Cuspid was still on the warpath when security and the police showed up. Shin had to catch the riled up bitty in his trench coat to keep the angered bitey from being captured. Security thought this was their ticket to watching Cuspid be euthanized, but the police were ready to herald the bitty as a hero upon matching the two attackers to wanted members of a bitty fighting ring.

              As happy as Shin was that two of those sick bastards would be going behind bars, his bruised back definitely didn’t enjoy all of the congratulatory pats it received. Cuspid and Shin were treated for slight bruising before they had to give statements. Shin practically ran home when he and Cuspid were finally given the green light to leave. Once home, he sat down on the couch with a pained breath. Cuspid looked up at him with concern on his face.

              “……After today, I want to find a rock to live under.” Shin groaned as he let himself fall sideways and curled up around the bitty, “That sounds ten times better than what just happened.”

              Cuspid nodded in agreement.


	8. Simple

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I own nothing. Full disclaimer/link can be found in Ch.1
> 
> a nice, simple date. (not a joke or red herring.)

              Daichi Watanabe was a decent man back before his mind snapped in half. A caring father, compassionate guardian, and talented musician…It was easy to see why Fredericka would prey on such a man- one driven to protect and create. That drive blinded him to the snake he’d allowed into his garden. Then again, Frederick had always been able to put on a show, to mislead a crowd, to warp the truth until it was unrecognizable as fact. Shin remembered his father as a kind, loving man who’d often taken the beatings for him and try to redirect Fredericka’s ire. He remembered him as supportive and witty, always urging Shin to learn more and grow not only as an intellectual, but as a person.

              Shin loved his father.

              _As a medical professional, I cannot encourage you to attempt to visit your father. His therapy has regressed once more, and seeing you could potentially worsen the situation. I also doubt our ability to keep you safe if he falls into one of his more violent moods. I understand that you want to see your father. I would desire the same thing were I in your shoes. However, at the moment, your father is still not ready to see you. We will inform you when this changes. Please cease to attempt to make visits. We will alert you when he is ready. This is for your safety and his benefi-_

              The letter went up in flames on Shin’s old gas stove. His shaking hands rested on the counter as he tried his best to calm down. Bowing his head down and gritting his teeth, he tried to force his body to stay still, to calm down. Deep breaths and soft humming only made him grow more agitated more quickly. His left hand began to singe a little given how close it was to the hot stove. The pain helped him focus to an extent, long enough to turn off the stove before he curled into a ball on the kitchen floor and tried to calm down.

              It felt like a tidal wave had crashed down on him.

              Cuspid came into the kitchen for some honey and scowled upon finding Shin slowly pushing himself up off of the ground. The bitty flew up and landed on his shoulder, growling softly at him.

              “I’m fine Cuspid.” Shin mumbled, finally falling into a sitting position, “I…just got some bad news is all.” His nails bit into his legs, “…really bad news…”

              “…m _m **m**_?” Cuspid nudged his head for further detail. Shin worried his lower lip for a couple of seconds, debating on whether he should tell Cuspid about his father or leave the bitty in the dark. Cuspid nipped his ear slightly and gave him a look that told Shin the bitey wanted the truth.

              “My dad’s locked away in a mental asylum right now.” Shin quietly admitted to the bitty, “He tried to kill my mom after she pushed him too far one day, and he never really…recovered from the psychotic break. At first, I could go see him, but he started growing more and more violent towards me as his psychosis worsened.” Shin used his sleeve to wipe away some blood that had been drawn by his earlier scratching, “I’m not allowed to go visit him anymore. Mostly because it just worsens his condition. They also aren’t certain if they can even keep me safe anymore.”

              “ **so**?” Cuspid cocked his head.

              “…So?” Shin felt a brief bubble of fury pop in his chest, but then he remembered that Cuspid had probably never had a father/parental figure in his life. Thus, the idea of losing a parent was completely foreign to him, “…Imagine losing a vital part of yourself, but instead of it being gone completely, it’s locked away where you can’t get to it.”

              Realization crossed Cuspid’s face. His hands reached up and carefully stroked Shin’s neck.

              “I kept trying to book a time to go see him…They pretty much just sent me a letter telling me to fuck off though.” Shin tugged his knees up to his chin, “…I wish things could be different, but I’d need some kind of time manipulation ability to do that….” Shin sighed and closed his eyes.

              Cuspid didn’t say a thing. What was there to say?

              “I’m sorry?”

              “It gets better?”

              “It’ll be alright?”

              None of those felt right for the situation. Thus, Cuspid waited until Shin slowly collected himself and stood up. A few silver trails were blatantly obvious on Shin’s…unique skin. Neither of them commented on it.

              “Sorry about that.” Shin wiped his face clean, “You probably came in looking for food right? Want me to warm you up some honey?”

              “ _s **ur**_ **e**.” Cuspid mumbled. He knew trying to press Shin any further would just send them toppling back to the ground, “… _th_ e d **at _e_**?”

              “I still have about two hours.” Shin reached up and patted Cuspid’s side, “It’ll only take me about twenty minutes to get dressed and ten to meet Mettaton at the theater.”

              “wi _ll y_ **ou _be_** _o_ ka **y** t **ho _ug_** _h_?” Cuspid’s frown hadn’t left.

              “I’ll b-be fine…the distraction w-will be nice.” Shin assured the bitty. He wasn’t lying. Shin could do with a brief break from the craziness of it all.

              He still couldn’t go see his father.

              He had a bunch of red jacket wearing jackasses trying to- emphasis on trying- jump him daily.

              Mettaton’s crazy fans were hounding him everywhere he went.

              In general, his life as an introvert thrown into the chaos usually reserved for extroverts left Shin more than ready to just quit everything and go hide in a barrel somewhere. He never expected for everything just to ass over crown in the span of a few months. It….sucked in all honesty. That was the best way to put it. Shin found himself wondering what cosmic force he pissed off for this latest bout of bad luck. Sadly, whoever he pissed off didn’t want to let their presence be known, so he was stuck trying to wade through the shit thrown at him and move along through life.

              He and Cuspid ate some honey and crackers in the kitchen. A cockroach tried to join in on the party only to be snapped in half by a greedy Cuspid. Shin just watched and chewed on sticky honey as Cuspid ended up having to wage a one man war against a bunch of angry cockroaches. He made sure to make a mental note to buy some kind of bug spray the next time he had enough money to do so. Still, it was interesting to see the bitty struggle as he was swarmed a few dozen times. In the end, Shin had to grab the last bottle of air freshner they had and doused the little buggers until they fled. Cuspid got the lovely pleasure of smelling like fake strawberries- he didn’t seem to find it all that pleasurable though.

              Shin felt his anxiety sky rocket after he got ready earlier than he thought he would. His shitty morning left him more panicky than he otherwise would’ve been, and the human began to ponder if he’d even be able to properly enjoy his date with Mettaton. He really didn’t want to ruin his evening. Shin just had no idea how to piece himself together enough to avoid making the evening crash and burn.

              Without any other options, he gritted his teeth and swallowed his pride.

              Blackwell answered on the second ring.

              “Shin? Everything okay? Don’t you have a date with Mettaton soon? Is he going to stand you up? Is something wrong? Are you ill? Need a babysitter for Cuspid?” The barrage of questions spilling forth from the professor had Shin holding the phone away from his face like it was a dangerous snake, “Shin? Are you there? Answer me.”

              “Sorry professor…you uh…k-kind of bombarded me there.” Shin held his phone between his shoulder and the side of his face in order to help Cuspid get a hoodie over his horns, “Mettaton isn’t standing me up…well…if he is, I don’t know it yet. I just…I…I’m nervous. R-Really nervous.”

              “Oh.” Blackwell breathed a sigh of relief, “Here I was worried about having to run a tin can over with my truck once or twice.”

              “P-Professor!” Shin squawked.

              “Merely being honest. Now Shin, you have nothing to be nervous about. You’ve be interacting with him for a few weeks now. He’s expressed mutual interest, and you two seem to get along very well.” Blackwell easily fell into an almost fatherly like tone of voice.

              Shin almost felt like crying.

              “Of course, if Mettaton tries anything he shouldn’t, let me know, and I’ll contact some of my friends in engineering. He’s obviously got some screws loose if he can’t appreciate having someone like you in his life.” The professor hummed, “Feeling better?”

              “A little- yes. I…I’m not just nervous about that.” Shin tapped Cuspid’s fangs with his new, bright pink- _~~the same color as mettaton’s bow tie~~_ \- acrylic nails. The bitey chomped down and growled at Shin a little, “I…also got a letter from the…the doctors about….my dad…”

              “Let me guess…It’s not any better?” Blackwell sighed.

              “Mhm…worse even…He’s started hating the rest of his family too apparently…” Shin remembered the doctor noting that the most alarming change had occurred when Daichi began to curse his twin’s name, “I’m not allowed to see him because of that.”

              “Stay strong.” Blackwell advised, “You may never get to properly see your father again, but be happy that he’s getting the best help you can provide for him.”

              “Is he really though?” Shin blinked back some of the tears he had welling up. He’d actually bothered to put on fucking mascara and eyeliner, and his cheap shit wasn’t waterproof by any stretch of the imagination.

              “Shin. I will come over to your house and hit you if you ask me another stupid question like that.” Blackwell warned. Shin actually laughed at that, “Now. Go off. Have fun. Try not to get pregnant or him pregnant. I don’t know what I’d do if you had to take off for family leave.”

              “BLACKWELL!” Shin blushed and clapped hand over his mouth. The cocky professor just laughed and hung up the phone. Shin glowered at it for a couple of seconds, “I fucking hate him.”

              “ _m_ **hm….** ” The slight head tilt Cuspid called Shin out on that bullshit easily enough.

              “S-shut up.” Shin blushed even more. Cuspid pointed to his closed lips and shrugged, cocking his head even more to the side, “I hate you…so much…”

              _Liar liar pants on fire._

              The night was cold when Cuspid and Shin stepped out into it. Instinctively, Shin glanced around, searching for red jackets in the shadows. None were around though. The police had cracked down on his neighborhood ever since he started getting attacked, so his worries were mostly unfounded. He even passed two police cruisers near his block. The officers gave him mock salutes as he passed. He politely nodded in return.

              Shin couldn’t find Mettaton at the theater though.

              His heart began to sink. His mind began to scold him for getting his hopes up. Cuspid looked downright murderous.

              “Ahem…um…darling?”

              Shin turned and found a pink ghost the size of his torso looking at him with a slight blush on its cheeks. The ghost’s fringe and eyes shape reminded Shin of…of..

              “Mettaton?” Shin whisper yelled in order to avoid attracting attention. The ghost nodded and smiled at him shyly.

              “I wanted to be able to enjoy tonight without having to deal with a swarm of people.” Mettaton gestured around to where no one was paying him any attention, “No body recognizes me outside of my robot bodies. I thought this might make things…easier for us both really….do you…mind?”

              “O-Of course not.” Shin blushed and shook his head hard enough that Cuspid briefly had to hover beside him to avoid being smacked off by his long hair, “I just…wasn’t expecting this is all….Y-You’re…very c-cute…” Shin looked the ghost up and down before he had to duck his head away, feeling like he might’ve over stepped some kind of boundary.

              “Ah…really?” Mettaton’s eyes lit up, “I can’t do much in this form, so I don’t get to be in it often…but…do you really like it?” Shin nodded almost frantically, “Oh…thank you darling…”

              “I-It’s no problem M-Mettaton.” Shin tucked his hands in his pockets and gulped a little, “Should w-we go get tickets?”

              It was odd to walk into his old childhood sanctuary with an attractive monster on his arm. His mother probably would’ve beaten him bloody if she could for being so close to a monster, but Shin found himself too busy staring at Mettaton’s eyes and hair to really care about what she would’ve thought.

              Again, like magic, Mettaton essentially cast a spell over him.

              His mind finally slowed down. His heart didn’t beat so fast that it might kill itself.

              Instead, he could sink into the moment and breathe.

              He liked that…maybe a little too much.

              He ended up staring at Mettaton so intensely that he didn’t notice the giant column until he walked into it. Thankfully, Mettaton simply found the whole thing adorable. Shin would’ve never forgiven himself if he ruined a date by bloodying his nose up a little.

              They did encounter some jackassery in the theater though. They managed to wriggle onto the topmost row, but a group of friends got pissy because Mettaton was ‘needlessly taking up a seat a human could use’ for no reason since he was just floating through it. Shin collected Mettaton and his bitty and moved a few rows down where they could sit in peace.

              “I’m so sorry about that darling.” Mettaton was bright magenta.

              “It’s not your fault there are a-assholes in the world M-Mettaton.” Shin assured the monster.

              “Am I just…taking up someone’s potential spot though?” Mettaton frowned down at the seat.

              “…If it bothers you that much, come sit on my lap then.” Shin offered, surprised he didn’t stutter.

              It was that comment that sent Cuspid flying up to the ceiling where he stayed for the rest of the movie while Shin and Mettaton quietly shared one seat. The two got a few strange looks, but they were too busy blushing to really give other people too much attention.

              It was…a first date by any stretch of the imagination: simple, sweet, and surprisingly chaste in the modern day. They didn’t even kiss when Mettaton dropped Shin off at home. The two shared smiles and knowing looks instead, happily staring into each other’s eyes until Cuspid slammed the door in Mettaton’s face because the bitty was getting tired and had little patience for his human’s silliness.

              … _Dammit Blackwell…_

This would go down as yet another story he’d never be able to tell Blackwell without inflating the man’s ego.


	9. Shock and L-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I own nothing. Full disclaimer/links can be found in Ch.1
> 
> I'm not dead, I swear. I've just been pondering a few things, and I've decided that I'm going to go on a proper hiatus for a while. Normally, when I 'go on hiatus' I don't really take a break. I'm working on outlines, fine tuning plots and writing the beginnings of chapters when I should actually be taking a breather. This time though, I'm actually going to take a little bit to unwind, not think about bitties, and just destress (RL issues are cropping up at the moment too). So at least for a little while (I don't have exact dates), I won't be writing in favor of unwinding. Then, I'll start writing, but definitely at a slower pace in favor of keeping my grades up and my sanity in check. Sorry if this pisses some people off (I know my frequent fliers won't really be bothered since they know my posting schedule has been outright insanity at some points). I can't wait to see you guys the next time I update though. If you want to speak with me at all while I'm on hiatus, just go to one of my blogs. If you're under 18, go to kissxawake. If you're 18+, swing by kissxsleep. Both blogs are open for communication.  
> I hope you have a wonderful morning, day, afternoon, evening, or night.

              Shin noticed that he was being followed almost immediately. Cuspid picked up on it too.

              The human-bitty pair were out later than usual. Shin had accidentally left his answer key in the library, so he had to cross his fingers that his old keycard and keys would work. He couldn’t get any of the tests graded without it. Honestly, he’d never made such a foolish mistake before…then again, he also never had an attractive monster keeping him distracted before either. Mettaton didn’t make a nuisance of himself of course. The monster had just as much work to do as Shin did- some would argue even more so since he worked at two different colleges. Still, the long chain of flirty banter Shin had going on his phone ended up distracting him enough that he forgot an important document in a very public place.

              “Did they turn with us again?” Shin murmured softly. He had his hands tucked in his pocket, right hand clamped around his phone, left curling around his keys to create a make shift set of brass knuckles. He had called Blackwell earlier and told him of the mishap. Instead of being angry, the professor encouraged Shin to be safe and actually wait. Shin insisted that he needed to go get it though. Thus, Blackwell practically begged Shin to stay vigilant, “…D-did they?”

              “m _h **m**_.” Cuspid growled, tail flicking angrily.

              “But they aren’t wearing red?” Shin kept his pace calm and steady.

              “ **nor _ma_** l cl _oth_ **i** ng.” Cuspid used a nearby shop window go get a better view of their tail, “... **kn** i _fe_.” Cuspid warned lowly. Shin unlocked his phone in his pocket blindly and used his speed dial to contact 911. He made sure to turn his volume down low enough that only Cuspid could hear it. There was confusion on the dispatcher’s end as they tried to call out to Shin. Cuspid faked a yawn and climbed down Shin’s arm into his pocket. It was a risky move since Cuspid was no longer watching his back, but they couldn’t have the dispatcher hang up on them.

              _If only I can get on campus…_ Shin gritted his teeth, fighting the temptation to check over his shoulder. This game of cat and mouse drove him crazy. His body was starting to shake, and his breathing grew slightly more erratic despite his best efforts to keep calm. _Breathe. Cuspid can handle one guy. You’re fine. You’re fine. Don’t give it away you know he’s there though. Keep calm. **Keep calm dammit.**_

              Shin bit his lip hard enough that it started to bleed.

              The campus was pitch black. It was a Friday night, so most of the students were either away visiting family or partying with their friends. Even the staff members had wandered off to do their own thing, leaving the campus a cold, silent place. Normally, Shin would rejoice at such serenity. It meant that he didn’t have to deal with a gaggle of students shoving past him, shrieking like banshees, and making fools of themselves.

              Now though….

              It was like a death trap.

              Shin and Cuspid had grown used to people tailing Shin in public. They couldn’t get anywhere near his house due to increased police monitoring, but on the streets, he was a sitting duck because of his introverted nature. He’d stopped walking around when it got dark due to this fact. However, leaving the answer key meant that a student could get ahold of it and sell it to future Blackwell students _and_ Shin would be days behind. Thus, he had to risk it.

              _They’re very determined to try and get to me aren’t they?_

              Shin and Cuspid had put their heads together a few times to ponder over what these people could possibly want with Shin. The two had come to the conclusion that the bitty rings weren’t happy the cops had a nearly exact schedule for their programming. That meant that the online branches were surfing the web for the right thing at the right time, increasing the amount of rings being busted. Shin also had one of the local ring’s prized fighters. Thus, he had not only given critical information to the police, but also controlled one of their largest money makers.

              They really didn’t like him.

              His footsteps practically echoed in the silence of the campus. His tail’s echoed also, with a slight delay. The noises almost sounded like a heartbeat against the pavement, slowly reaching towards a crescendo as Shin started to increase his stride length in order to put more distance between him and his tail. The person picked up the pace as well. As Shin grew closer and closer to the back alley where the library’s back entrance was, his nerves started sounding off more and more.

              The utter darkness growing closer and closer to him seemed to want to take its sweet time.

              Shin’s bloody lip got another hole in it when the pain of the first was too much to bear.

              “Watanabe.” A flashlight flashed across him as two police officers approached him, “Are you alright?” They immediately looked back at the person who had been tailing him, “…Eugene Wilkson?”

              _Eugene?_

              No, it couldn’t be. Eugene didn’t have a hurtful bone in his body.

              Shin’s head whipped around and turned to find Eugene pulling back a hood. Concern and worry was written all over his face, and Cuspid growled at him upon realizing that Eugene _had_ been the one following them. Shin didn’t know what to do, how to process that new kind of information. His mind almost rebelled at the idea. Eugene had never been anything but kind to _everyone_. The idea that someone so inherently compassionate could be a member of a bitty ring nearly shattered his mind.

              “The dude following him bowed out once he saw you guys coming.” Eugene sighed, “Shin, man, you really shouldn’t be walking around this late by yourself.”

              “ _You_ were the one following me.” Shin’s nails dug into his palms.

              “No. I…Okay let me explain from the start.” Eugene noticed the police officers were looking at him suspiciously too, “I was going to run an errand when I saw Shin being tailed by some guy in a red shirt and dark coat. It looked shady, so I started following along behind him in case things got ugly. The guy didn’t get any closer once he noticed me tailing _him_.”

              _…I really want to believe you Eugene. I really do…but…_

              “You know how bad t-this looks right?” Shin questioned, feeling his body begin to go numb as his adrenaline began to crash, “E-Eugene….”

              “I swear I’m not lying. There’s got to be security footage somewhere.” Eugene insisted. He gave Shin a sad look, “I’d never want to hurt a bitty. I was just worried about you. Neither you or Cuspid seemed to notice the guy.”

              “Cuspid?” Shin murmured over to Cuspid. Cuspid made a noncommittal noise that said Eugene could be telling the truth.

              Needless to say, Shin left that whole encounter more shaken up than when he thought that he was going to be jumped. He managed to get back into the library without further incident. Eugene ended up having to go with the police for them to double check his story, and Shin was allowed to leave after giving a brief statement.

              “ _S **hi**_ **n**.” Cuspid tugged on his ear when Shin began to claw at his hands. The human had shaking legs as he walked to the back door of the library, “ **Sh** in.”

              “Y-Y-Yes…?” Shin almost dropped his keys due to the small pools of blood beginning to form on his palms.

              “…” Cuspid just made an exasperated noise and flew down to snatch the keys from Shin’s fumbling fingers. For half a second, Shin worried that Cuspid would try and keep the keys away with him, but the bitty wasn’t that cruel. Cuspid opened the door to the library for Shin and tucked the keys- and himself- into Shin’s pocket with his phone.

              _I…I think…I think I made Cuspid angry…_

              Shin’s mind continued to fracture under more strain. He stumbled through the darkness of the empty library and rubbed hot tears from his eyes. Some part of him just wanted to crawl home and die under his coffee table, but he needed to talk with his cousin and ask if Nagihiko had already told the Newmore sisters about the food critic. One of the plus sides to Professor Blackwell’s TA is that Food Critic Blackwell had connections, and the professor’s husband had been kind enough to pass along the message that a rather nasty food critic would be heading Olivia Newmore’s way. Shin didn’t particularly care about the Newmore sisters that much. Nagihiko was close friends with them though. Thus, Shin wanted to make sure that his cousin’s friends would be alright.

              ~~He also needed the vague distraction from what had to be one of the worst moments in his life.~~

              Shin managed to locate the paper despite the darkness of the library. It took much longer than expected though. He didn’t turn his phone’s flashlight on. The darkness comforted him and helped him hide his worry. It was almost like the things plaguing him couldn’t find him. While he knew that darkness really couldn’t protect him from life’s problems, the idea helped him calm down at least a little. In other words, he wandered around a library in the dark for about an hour before he found the page and began to head back downstairs.

              “C-Cu-u-usp-uspi-i-id?” Shin stammered as he carefully navigated his way down the stairs. His voice cracked a little, and he rubbed his eyes with the hand that wasn’t clinging to the railing for dear life. The bitty clamored out of his pocket, “I-I’m s-sorry…” Shin whimpered a little as Cuspid climbed up his arm. He continued to mumble broken apologizes between self-deprecating comments about himself, mostly centering on his inability to just function.

              Cuspid made a soft humming noise and rubbed his neck. Shin couldn’t tell if the bitty was trying to talk to him or not because his hearing became stuffy as he grew snottier. The bitty’s cool, soothing hand on his neck ended up making him feel better than he thought it would. He was on the first floor when he finally quit crying.

              “ **Sh** i _n_?” Cuspid nuzzled his head against Shin’s jaw.

              “I-I’m…a-al-al-alr-ri-right.” Shin scrubbed a hand down his face. His shoulders hunched a little unconsciously as he navigated his way through the bottom floor back to the back door.  Cuspid made a low sound of slightly annoyed disbelief, “R-Real-eal-l-ly..”

              A slight bang made Shin jump. His nerves were already too jittery to barely handle conversation. Thus, the sound of something whipping through the air made Shin cringe and duck away from the noise until he heard something that made his heart flutter a little.

              “Darling?” Mettaton, in his ghost form, frantically looked around, “Darling? Where are you?”

              “M-M-Me-et-etta-t-ton?” Shin felt fresh tears well up a little bit due to shock.

              “Darling!” Mettaton practically flew over to Shin. Worried eyes faintly resembled hearts as Mettaton accidentally ran _through_ Shin. A cold, icy feeling flooded Shin’s arms and torso. A shudder escaped him, and he realized that Mettaton had literally seen through him, “Oh, I’m sorry.” Mettaton slid around Shin and pressed a small, ghostly appendage against his wet cheeks, “Oh darling…What happened?”

              “You..wait…” Shin shook his head a little and jolted upon realizing there was some pressure. He looked at Mettaton’s hand in confusion.

              “I can make myself partially corporeal on occasion darling.” Mettaton explained quickly while trying to wipe away Shin’s tears as they fell, “Please tell me what’s wrong…I might not be able to make the problem go away, but maybe I can make you feel better?”

              Shin’s wound up shoulders sagged like someone had cut the strings holding them up. He let out a shaky sigh and quietly stammered out what had just happened. The two stood in the near silence of the library for a while as Shin spoke. Mettaton didn’t interrupt him or ask questions. He silently listened, scrubbing away Shin’s tears.

              “…oh darling.” Mettaton pressed a kiss to his cheek once Shin had fallen silent, “I’m so sorry to hear that. I doubt that Eugene is involved with a ring, but it’s sad to have that kind of scare.”

              Shin nodded in agreement. He didn’t think Eugene would be capable of such cruelty himself. Still, the idea that a ring member could’ve been so close to him, so often made his skin crawl. Cuspid’s safety, his safety, were in permanent jeopardy. They could never really be certain that any of their friends, coworkers, family members, and so on were actually friendly. Needless to say, Shin felt even worse.

              “I…I w-want to b-be-e-elieve Eugene, b-but…”

              _If what he said was true, I probably almost died tonight._

              Shin shuddered and leaned his forehead against Mettaton’s.

              “It’s alright.” Mettaton nuzzled his forehead against Shin’s, “Darling, the next time you need to do some late night wandering, please let me know. I’ll walk with you and keep you safe.”

              Shin felt something warm flicker in his chest.

              “Thank you..” He murmured.

              Cuspid made an offended sound.

              “N-Not that you c-couldn’t do it C-Cuspid.” Shin amended quickly. Cuspid huffed and crossed his arms angrily. Still, the bitty had been very good about not getting annoyed with their syrupy antics at least.

              “Cuspid darling, you are a ferocious little thing.” Mettaton tapped Cuspid’s nose, “But people might be more discouraged if they see someone larger walking with him.”

              “H-He’s right Cuspid.” Shin agreed, shyly.

              “..gg _rr_ **rr**.”Cuspid huffed, but didn’t make any more fuss over the whole thing.

              “I mean it darling. You call me if you need an escort.” Mettaton brushed back some of Shin’s hair and smiled at him, “I’d worry otherwise.”

              “A-Alright.” Shin nodded and smiled softly.

              “Now, let’s get you home darling.” Mettaton clucked his tongue and took Shin’s hand in his, “You’re looking quite haggard dear. You should rest and recover from this.”

              “...mhm…” Shin silently agreed, staring at Mettaton’s hand awkwardly fusing and wrapping around his own. It was…a…strange feeling to say the least, but Shin didn’t find it unpleasant.

              Mettaton walked Shin home and proceeded to fuss over him when he tried to work.

              The shock of having someone actively scolding him for pushing himself almost made Shin cry again. He felt horrible for all of the waterworks, but it had just been that kind of day- a terrible one. Cuspid eventually joined sides with Mettaton. The two managed to squish Shin into his bed and all but swaddle him in blankets. Shin continued to fret about the work he needed to get done until he finally went to sleep due to Cuspid’s soft humming finally dragging him under.

              When he woke up the next morning, he…he..

              …wasn’t alone.

              Well, he hadn’t been alone since Cuspid moved in with him, but this was the first time in years that he’d woken up with another large creature in his house. Mettaton- who had diligently finished up Shin’s paperwork through the night- had decided to rest on Shin’s old sofa. The sight alone almost sent Shin into a tizzy- for more than one reason. Mettaton didn’t quite seem to get why Shin was so distressed about having a high profile guest- one he was crushing on no less- sleep on his ratty, _old_ couch instead of a semi-comfortable bed. The circular, soft spoken argument ended with Shin just crumpling onto the couch and sighing as Mettaton giggled and nuzzled his head under Shin’s chin.

              “You worry too much darling.”

              “Anxiety d-does that.” Shin grumbled back.

              He wasn’t angry though.

              No.

              The feeling in his chest was something vastly different.

              He was happy for the first time in over a decade.

              _Damn…I…uggghhh…I’m falling in love aren’t I? Shit…shitshitshitshit…_


	10. Date

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I own nothing. Full disclaimer/links can be found in Ch.1
> 
> ...I've been playing ME:A For the past week and haven't touched my stories. In short, I actually went on a hiatus...It felt a bit weird trying to get back into the swing of things. Sorry if this chapter is bleh, but it's been a week *shrugs* also- as much as I love Shin- I can't wait to move on to Ty T-T

              Years of bullying and harassment had led to Shin developing a thicker skin. Hell, he eventually got to a point where even the harshest of words and slurs did little to move him in any direction at all. His harassers then began to fall into one of two categories: the ones who backed off because his apathy bored him and the ones who continued to bug him just to get a rise out of him. The ones in the first category had moved on years prior, and the ones in the latter category tended to keep things simple and ‘sweet’ if they were directly trying to harass him. Years of dealing with all of that created an awkward balance where Shin tried his best to not react while they all tried their best to force out a reaction of any kind. He thought they couldn’t find something that could actually hurt him.

              That all changed when Mettaton became much more openly….appreciative of Shin.

              It didn’t take much for the human to realize that Mettaton- with his catty, diva personality- wouldn’t hold back with affection. Shin had heard Mettaton speak fondly of his introverted cousin and a dear friend named Alphys as well. The monster had no shame in openly discussing his feelings for them and tended to get salty if someone tried to make fun of him for adoring the people he cared for.

              Shin just never expected to be counted as one of the people the robot cared for.

              “Darling.” Mettaton’s sing song voice cut through the lecture hall where Blackwell and Shin were powering through a ton of papers. The soft clicking noises of Mettaton’s heels actually managed to draw Shin’s attention from his work. Blackwell almost choked on his coffee upon seeing Shin look up from something he was doing just to look at the monster, “What on the surface are you two still doing holed up in here? It’s time for lunch.”

              “Papers to grade.” Shin held up the massive stack he still had to get through within the week before nodding to two other stacks that were double that size, “Students have to write two essays a week, and those essays are collected at the end of the month for a massive grade. The method makes grading hell, but the students don’t feel as pressured knowing they just have to have 8 relatively short papers in by the end of the month.” _Really_ short fit better than _relatively_. The papers weren’t long at all, but together they tended to equal the page count of the final essay for the class. It was a hidden way of preparing the students for their final. Some did really well and the extra grade pulled their averages up. Others did horribly and the grade shot their averages down straight to hell.

              “You should’ve told me darling.” Mettaton pursed his lips grumpily, “I could’ve brought you lunch. Instead, I sat out in the sunlight for five minutes with all of my adoring fans trying to grope me until I managed to wriggle away.”

              Mettaton enjoyed the people who liked his work- he really did. Their constant presence grated on the monster’s nerves however, and Shin’s reputation as the campus oddball kept people away from him a lot. Others also seemed to notice the soft bubble of…something that surrounded the duo when they were together.

              …

              ….fucking hell there was no ‘seemed’ about it.

              The fan clubs noticed Mettaton’s blatant interest in Shin Watanabe, and they damn well made their opinions on the matter- all _negative-_ well known. If it wasn’t insults muttered under mint flavored breath as Shin walked by their group, it was hate filled notes on his doorstep or tucked into his work mail. A few even looked ready to try and start a physical altercation. One sharp, dangerous look from Cuspid sent those idiots scrambling though. Still, the extra attention didn’t do any good for Shin’s already frayed nerves. He already had to deal with people trying to get a hold of his bitty after all. The clubs had been somewhat peaceful when Mettaton and Shin appeared to mostly be in a platonic and odd friendship, but the kid gloves came off after Mettaton nuzzled his forehead against Shin’s one too many times for their taste.

              “I’m sorry.” Shin blushed, “I f-forgot to text you…How did you even kn-know to check here?”

              “I got a text from your phone.” Mettaton’s brow furrowed, “If you didn’t send it it…”

              “…s _av_ **e m _e_.** ” A cranky Cuspid flew out from under a stack of papers and landed on top of Mettaton’s head, “…i **_ha_ te es**s _ays_.” The bitty groaned.

              “Well that explains it.” Mettaton laughed before running a hand through Shin’s hair, “Been torturing your bitty with grading hmm?”

              “N-Not wil-li-llingly.” Shin grumbled back, glowering at the bitty who had the smuggest look on his face, “C-Cuspid…what have I said a-about using my phone without m-my knowledge?”

              The bitey just stuck his tongue out at the embarrassed human before settling down on top of Mettaton’s head. The robot affectionately patted the worn bitty before beaming at Shin just a little brighter.

              “Well, I suppose this is a blessing in disguise. Are you free tonight darling?” Mettaton asked, tucking some of Shin’s hair behind his ear in order to get a better view of the human’s face, “Our schedules have been so chaotic that we could never really go on that date.”

              “I uh…” Shin’s face probably resembled a cherry at that point, “U-Um…grading…uh..”

              “The students can wait a little Shin. It’ll be good for you to get out of the house a little.” Blackwell interjected.

              “B-But….the ring…” Shin’s gaze fell down towards his hands. His nails- bright pink and purple- dug into the flesh of his hands to try and calm down the swelling anxiety in him. Eugene had been cleared of all charges. Security camera footage showed Eugene pursuing a darkly clothed figure who intentionally seemed to change the way they walked to keep analysists from being able to determine their height and age. The person also hard worn layer upon layer of dark clothing that hid their face and frame expertly. Some of clothing seemed to glow with magic that monster police officers theorized might’ve been some kind of cloaking magic- which had been an illegal product in the Underground.

              This person- who grew close enough to Shin that it would’ve only taken a few inches for the long kitchen knife they had on hand to hurt him- still walked the streets at night, pursuing him. Mettaton had spotted the figure a few times. The duo had gone out to purchase groceries and collect papers. Blackwell- as always- had been alerted to where they were going each time just in case something did happen. The knowledge that someone else- someone who obviously had connections and power in order to get illegal cloaking magic- besides the nearly foolish lackeys pursued him almost relentlessly had kept Shin locked in his house most of the time. In his home, Shin was relatively safe. It was well known that police officers were permanently staking out his house after all.

              “You can’t let those bastards control your life Watanabe.” Blackwell sighed and threw a paperclip at his T.A. The firm frown made Shin wilt a little, “You’ve got a life waiting for you- don’t waste your youth. You need to make the decisions that get you somewhere while you still have the body to do it. Things get harder once you get older after all.” The professor laughed.

              “I’m glad to see we’re in agreement Professor.” Mettaton giggled and bent down a little to put his face closer to Shin’s, “No pressure darling, but I don’t want you sequestered away into your house because some brutes have decided to be annoying. I’ll protect you.” Mettaton brushed his temple against the side of Shin’s head. The cold metal against his head actually soothed Shin despite his distaste of the cold.

              “I know you will…” Shin sighed, “Okay…I’ll uh…n-need to change though.” He looked down at his ratty jeans, fading vest, and worn trench coat that looked even worse with his mismatched set of boots.

              “Why? You look adorable.” Mettaton puffed his cheeks out.

              “I l-look like I rolled out of a t-thrift shop…” Shin popped his collar up to hide behind it a little. He actually _did_ purchase his current set of clothing from a thrift store. Shin didn’t want to go out on a date with _METTATON_ dressed like a ragamuffin. He wanted to wear some of his nicer clothing, “P-Please?”

              “Darling, if you want to go home and change into something more comfortable, go right ahead. I just don’t want you thinking that you need to go rent a tux for a simple dinner date.” Mettaton ran his fingers across Shin’s scalp soothingly, “We’re not going anywhere particularly fancy, even though I’ve had a few places begging for me to come. I was thinking about one of those adorable little cafes.”

              “Which one?” Shin knew that some of the ‘adorable little cafés’ were just as bad as the fancy restaurants when it came to judging their customers.

              “I believe it’s called Greenie’s?” Mettaton’s tongue ran across his teeth in thought, “The menu looked nice….the name was a bit odd though. Neither of the owners have ‘green’ in their name.”

              “The original owners were war veterans- started off ‘green’.” Shin explained, “Their descendants have taken over, but they kept the name. Greenie’s is almost as old as Oliverdale is after all.”

              Oliverdale had been settled by one of the cousins of the Ridge sisters- the three women who would create Grayridge, Blackridge, and Greenridge. The town had cropped up shortly after the Ridge cities had, and _they_ had been created shortly after the Bloodlight War left the humans ‘victorious’. In other words, it was an _old_ establishment.

              “Oh really? That’s almost cute.” Mettaton didn’t need to be told what war the original owners had fought in, “Are you fine with that being where we go, or do you prefer somewhere else?”

              “Greenie’s is fine. Sometimes Blackwell drags me there.” Shin smiled at the monster. Blackwell almost choked on his coffee- again- at the simple alteration in his facial expression, “Give me about an hour to get home and get ready once we leave work?”

              “Sure darling.” Mettaton looked positively overjoyed, “I’ll come pick you up.”

              “W-Wait, shouldn’t I-“ Shin stammered

              “Nuh uh.” Mettaton pressed a finger to Shin’s lips, “I’ll be the one to pick you up darling. I don’t want you walking the streets when the sun starts to go down all alone.”

              “I’d h-have Cuspid.” Shin muttered. Cuspid was too busy dozing on top of Mettaton’s head to back Shin up in any way, “Okay though.” Honestly, Shin found it a bit comforting that he’d be the one being picked up. Walking around town used to make him somewhat serene. That luxury had been stripped from him of late- for obvious reasons that don’t need to be repeated.

              “Great. I’ll see you later darling.” Mettaton ruffled his hair teasingly.

              “B-Bye….W-Wait!” Shin called out when Mettaton began to walk away. Shin pointed to the top of his head.

              “Hm? Oh.” Mettaton laughed. He bent over to be close to Shin’s arm and removed the bitey from the top of his head, handing him over to Shin while the bitty grumpily nipped at cold metal to show his displeasure at being removed, “Sorry dear, but you need to stay where you can keep an eye on Shin.” Cuspid grunted before crawling up Shin’s arm and into Shin’s trench coat, growling and grumbling angrily.

              “He’ll calm down after he naps a little.” Shin assured Mettaton. The monster smiled at him, but hesitated before looking ready to pull back. Shin noticed where Mettaton’s gaze had flickered too. A quick glance out of the corner of his eye told him that Blackwell was pointedly holding papers in front of his face to try and give them some form of privacy. Shin leaned forward and pressed a simple kiss to Mettaton’s lips. Mettaton made a soft, startled yelp before blinking at Shin in shock.

              Shin slumped down and away from the robot, face brighter than ever.

              “Ah…thank you darling.” Mettaton kissed the side of his head, “I can’t wait to see you later.”

              “M-Mhm.” Shin nodded rather pathetically.

              There was silence until Mettaton was long gone out of the room.

              “I don’t know whether to gag at how syrupy that was or smile because you’re so pathetically adorable.” Blackwell laughed.

              “S-Shut u-up.” Shin kicked at his legs and sank down into his chair to continue grading essays.

              Work became harder-like it always did- after Mettaton’s visit. Shin managed to stay on task, but his productivity was a bit stunted by how often his mind wandered to the chaste kiss he’d given the monster. Mettaton had been too shocked to really react….at least…that’s what Shin _hoped_ caused the lack of reaction. Cuspid ended up tugging on his hair whenever he became too distracted, so he got his work done. Shin felt tempted to push the date back due to all of the work he had to get done.

              Blackwell locked him out of the classroom.

              Cuspid watched sometime later as Shin desperately tried to piece together an outfit out of his better looking clothing. The cocky bitty watched with a dull, ‘really?’ expression while Shin fretted under his breath, desperate to try and pull an outfit together that looked halfway decent.

              “s _hi_ **n**.” Cuspid gestured to a nearby, ancient clock.

              “Gah!” Shin winced upon realizing he needed to get ready within the next ten minutes.

              He tripped twice and ended up having to throw his hair into a low ponytail holder, but he eventually tugged on a nice, orchid colored, long sleeve shirt and pair of black slacks. It definitely wasn’t the look he wanted to go for. Shin found himself more than a little grumpy that he’d lost track of time and essentially shot himself in the foot by not paying attention. The bitty just continued to watch Shin’s near mental meltdown with calm, collected eyes.

              “ _yo_ **u wor** ry t **o** _o mu **ch**_.” Cuspid huffed.

              “You worry too little.” Shin shot back as he grabbed his bitty and his satchel. Cuspid nipped him before settling down on Shin’s shoulder.

              Waiting for Mettaton to arrive gave Shin’s anxious mind too much time to play around with ideas. These ideas went along the lines of ‘he’s going to stand me up’ and ‘he’s going to find me unattractive’ with all kinds of self-deprecating thoughts in between. Cuspid eventually had to start tugging on Shin’s jaw to keep the human from splitting his lip open due to him excessively chewing his lip.

              “ca _lm._ ” Cuspid scolded Shin.

              “I’ve n-never been c-calm.” Shin scratched at the back of his arm.

              The knock at the door had him standing- and tripping- in short order. He stumbled to the door with Cuspid clinging to his hair for dear life and answered it with a fearful look in his eyes. Mettaton stood outside with a bright smile and a long coat that would look tacky on anyone else.

              “Hello there darling. Sorry for the slight delay. I ended up having to convince one of my students to not drop out, and that took some time.” Mettaton’s smile drooped just a little, “Apparently, going from the star in high school to side characters in college isn’t exactly doing this person any favors….sadly, there are just so many basics this person needs to work on that I don’t feel comfortable shoving them into the limelight to be judged. Critics can be assholes after all. I doubt h- this person sees my actions in such a light though.”

              “Students rarely do.” Shin nodded in understanding. He’d had to deal with more than one cranky student upset that their usually high history grades were extremely low compared to where they once were despite the student not having good study methods or a decent foundation for knowledge, “If you needed to take more time, you could’ve. The students need to come first after all.”

              “Oh no darling, once I stroked this person’s ego a little and promised to go over some things with them in some tutor sessions, they were fine- still grumpy and a little sad, but fine.” Mettaton stepped back to let Shin step out of the house and lock his front door, “Besides, I want you to take a break from campus related topics….I didn’t even want to mention it, but I also didn’t want you to get the wrong idea. Sometimes, Blooky would get upset if I was late and didn’t give him an explanation. I like to imagine I improve after stumbling.” Mettaton offered his arm out.

              Shin stared at it for few seconds. He and Mettaton had grown closer- very close even. Shin had even _kissed_ Mettaton earlier that very day, but the soft intimacy of walking with their arms interlocked made the human pause. Mettaton actually seemed to hesitate and feel a brief burst of doubt until Shin looped his arm through Mettaton’s with a blush crawling across his face.

              “Y-You…ah…um…You do…I was g-getting a bit nervous since y-you were late…” Shin cleared his throat and began to lead Mettaton away from his house. Cuspid, sensing the oncoming fluff, groaned and went to hide in Shin’s satchel, “So…t-thank you for t-telling me…”

              “Of course darling.” Mettaton beamed at Shin.

              Their date at Greenie’s went surprisingly well. Mettaton managed to coax the hostess into giving them a booth further back in the establishment, away from prying eyes. The hostess had wanted to shove Mettaton near the front in order to attract more business, but the slight threat in the monster’s eyes silenced those protests before they really began.

              Cuspid seemed to enjoy getting drunk while Mettaton and Shin chatted quietly about different things and watched the bitty test his tolerance more and more. It got to the point where Shin had to pick the bitty up and wrap him in a cloth napkin- _~~which he technically had to steal after the meal because his bitty was still in it, but he paid for it~~_ \- and tuck him back into his satchel. Shin was embarrassed at Cuspid’s display. Mettaton thought it was cute.

              Shin always stumbled and fumbled when he spoke to Mettaton, but the closeness of being in the booth, the atmosphere of Greenie’s, the way Mettaton’s eyes literally glowed in the dim lighting of the café made Shin even worse than normal. The monster patiently waited every time Shin needed a couple of heartbeats to pause and think and smiled whenever a simple sentence ended up taking thrice as long to finish saying because his stutter made it drag out.

              For the first time on a date, Shin didn’t feel pressured to speak. Mettaton’s patience and love of talking helped carry the conversation- even when things got a little awkward.

              _~~You’re falling in love. Shit. Dammit. You know you are. That’s bad. Real bad. His fan club is going to lose it’s mind. You’re dead. Why would he ever want to be with someone like you long term? He could date a Hollywood superstar. You’re just a little distraction in a small city. You won’t last too long. Don’t get your hopes up.~~_

              Shin’s heart raced when Mettaton took on of his hands and held onto it during most of the evening.

              _~~Dammit. I said DON’T GET YOUR HOPES UP. You’re just going to be let down…fucking idiot.~~_ ~~~~

The waitress didn’t seem to like the way Mettaton practically ignored her flirtations in order to all but drown Shin in fluffy words and playful teasing. Shin found himself wilting a little under her gaze. Then, Mettaton finally gave her some of his attention in order to essentially bark at her to screw off.

              “The food was wonderful, but that waitress was absolutely abhorrent.” Mettaton scoffed, “Hope she enjoys her single penny tip.” Shin hadn’t been able to convince Mettaton to not be that spiteful, “Honestly darling, don’t let her antics get to you. I thoroughly enjoyed our date tonight. It was marvelous.” Mettaton kissed the side of Shin’s head and intertwined their fingers. Once more, Shin felt himself floored by the chaste intimacy. Some part of him wondered where the night would go and if he would mind going all the way on the first day. _THAT_ line of thought had him tangoing with so many ‘what if’ scenarios his brain almost snapped in half.

              Shin and Mettaton were rounding a corner when Mettaton tugged Shin closer and whipped his head around.

              “Aha.” Mettaton’s eyes flared a dangerous red color as he held Shin close and away from the tall figure looming in the background, “I thought my radar was going off…figured it was just some interference after dinner…”

              The figure, dressed all in black and carrying a long kitchen knife, stood up straight and poised. Shin and Mettaton couldn’t see the person’s face, but Shin would be able to recognize the figure anywhere.

              For a minute, the figure looked like it was debating on lunging forward. Mettaton raised a hand and flicked his wrist. A small cube manifested in his palm.

              “Since you love to be a surprise, why don’t you get one?” Mettaton threw the box at the figure. The box exploded into a bunch of small robots with umbrellas and hearts. The figure whirled back and grunted when some of the hot shards burned through its clothing and seared its skin.

              The figure bolted.

              _I can’t get one damn good thing can I?_

              Shin thought as he sagged against Mettaton who was dialing the police.

              _…At least I got to enjoy the date first._

              Small victories had to count for something right?


	11. Hearts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I own nothing. Full disclaimer/links can be found in Ch.1

              “I can’t believe he’d actually try and get you while you were with someone else.” Eugene marveled as he helped Shin with some grading. After the whole mix-up had been cleared up, Shin’s hesitation on being around the all-star took some time to wane, but it eventually passed, allowing the two to resume their…communications. Eugene- surprisingly- didn’t hold a grudge against Shin for it. He even became somewhat more protective of Shin than he already had been, “It’s good that Mettaton was there of course. I just never thought that someone could be that stupid.”

              “T-There are idiots e-everywhere.” Shin shrugged. Cuspid dozed fitfully on his lap. The bitty had been irritated ever since the second direct attack by the unknown figure, “M-Mettaton was t-ticked for a while s-since the police couldn’t f-find the guy a-afterwards.”

              “I would be too! I mean…the dude has to have some nasty burns on his arm right about now.” Eugene huffed, much to Shin’s slight annoyance. Shin knew that he couldn’t expect the police to dig things up miraculously. There were no leads on who was essentially stalking him, and the brief glimpses that Shin and Mettaton got of the figure only helped identify that the perpetrator was male- and definitely using magic. The police were trying though.

              “Hopefully things don’t have to escalate any further.” Blackwell hummed as he slowly began to cut up an apple- one of his favorite treats. The older man sighed and shook his head, looking pointedly at Cuspid before saying, “Shin…maybe…”

              “NO.” Shin said firmly.

              He knew that- logically speaking- giving Cuspid up would be the best thing for _himself._ He wouldn’t have to deal with the rings harassing him. He wouldn’t have to sleep with one eye open. He wouldn’t have to budget even more carefully to attend to the maimed bitty’s extra needs. All in all, Cuspid had only really brought Shin trouble, but Shin wasn’t about to back out after all of this.

              Cuspid bolted up, groaning as he shook away the remnants of a nightmare. Shin scooped the agitated bitey up and patted the back of his head. Cuspid growled a little at the sudden contact, but he accepted the slightly comfort. The bitey climbed up Shin’s arm and settled on his shoulder, facing backwards.

              “Do we n-need to go to a B-BCC?” Shin murmured softly to Cuspid. The bitty shook his head and rubbed his hands down his gaunt, scared face, “Alright, but if your nightmares keep getting worse like this….”

              “t **he** _y_ w _on **’t**_.” Cuspid grunted.

              “Cuspid…” Shin frowned.

              “ _th_ ey **won’ _t_.** ” Cuspid said again, more firmly this time as the last bit of sleep left his mind sharper, “I’ _m_ f **in** e.”

              “…uh huh…” Shin’s disbelieving voice got him a nip to the ear, “O-Ow.”

              “Hard to believe he’s still such a vicious little thing after being with you for so long.” Eugene snickered a little. Shin just shrugged the shoulder that Cuspid wasn’t on. Honestly, Cuspid’s behavior had drastically improved over the- actually- short time they had been together. Shin was happy to be able to notice the improvements himself- even if others couldn’t see it.

              “Just think about what I said Shin.” Blackwell reminded him lightly, “I want my best T.A. to be safe after all.” Blackwell took a bite of apple and gave Shin a sad smile.

              “I can think about it until my brain melts, but my answer will always stay ‘no’.” Shin said with the kind of confidence he’d forgotten he had over the years. Eugene sat back in stunned silence while Blackwell just let out a sad sigh.

              Shin- obviously- decided to not tell Cuspid that Blackwell tried to convince him to let the bitty go.

              The rest of Shin’s day was spent dealing with the usual chaos. The students and other staff were unsympathetic to his issues. A few of the students even tried to get in his face and claim that Shin was faking everything for Mettaton’s attention. Cuspid had fun giving that kid a black eye. There were a few students- older ones who Shin had seen since their first year at O.U.- that actually patted Shin on the back and offered any help they could provide. Shin found himself rather flattered.

              The Mettaton fan clubs seemed to be in agreement with that one student who got in his face though. They began to go moan to the college newspapers that Shin was intentionally stirring up drama to keep Mettaton interested in him. They all seemed to believe that Mettaton still held the mentality his caricature on stage did. None of them were willing to actually see past the glitz and glamour like Mettaton _himself_ had.

              Then again, they probably didn’t know the kind of things that Mettaton and his cousin went through in Hollywood, so how could they understand? Shin still found himself increasingly irritated that these ‘fans’ weren’t willing to actually listen to Mettaton’s wishes and take him off of that pedestal. The monster still had to walk around in his older bodies or in his ghost form just to get a few moments of peace outside of his home and the classroom. Shin could see that all of their relentless reminders of what he once was had begun to slowly grind the monster’s gears- no pun intended.

              “Darling.” Mettaton beamed at Shin as he walked up to their tree for lunch. A few members of his fan club huffed and puffed in the background, watching their idol settle down beside a ‘lesser man’ to eat lunch. Mettaton paid them no mind and pressed a kiss to Shin’s temple, “How have you been today? I heard Cuspid got into a scuffle earlier.”

              “There was a…small issue, but it’s not a big deal.” Shin assured him. The bitty in question settled down between the two, “How have you been? I know a lot of your fans were upset that you had to go to the police station with me.”

              “Anyone who got upset because I accompanied you to give a full report on what happened is _no_ true fan of mine.” Mettaton growled a little, eyes darkening a little, “I’m just sorry you had to see me get a little bit violent darling. As much as I adored doing my own stunts, I never quite wanted you to see that. People still…well…some humans still think all monsters are inherently dangerous. It’s quite the stigma to battle when you throw a miniature grenade at someone.” Mettaton’s angry look turned into a flustered blush.

              “Mettaton, you were trying to keep us safe. I wasn’t bothered by it.” The words tumbled from Shin’s mouth quickly, and he found himself shocked that he didn’t stumble or stutter even once. His desire to make himself heard loud and clear quickly must’ve pushed the words out before his mind could really process them and begin to stumble.

              “Really darling?” Mettaton asked shyly.

              “Really.” Shin hesitated for a heartbeat before reaching out and picking up one of Mettaton’s hands, “I mean it. I’m not scared of you. I uh…um…a-actually thought it w-w-w-wa-a-a-as a b-bit…uh…um…” Shin’s brief moment of confidence crumbled as a bright red flush crawled up his face.

              “….darling…” Mettaton’s own blush faded into a soft, teasing smirk, “Don’t tell me you like your men strong and dashing.”

              Shin let out a rather undignified squeak of protest that had Mettaton laughing.

              “uu _gg **gghhh**_.” Cuspid groaned and tried to bury his head in the ground.

              “Honestly…” Mettaton tugged the bitty out of the ground and chuckled when Cuspid nipped him, “You’d better get used to at some point darling. If I have it my way…” Mettaton leaned closer to Shin and rested his cheek against the top of Shin’s head, “…this will be a common sight.”

              Shin felt his heart break and flutter at the same time.

              The abandoned part of him couldn’t seem to accept the fact that someone would want to be close to him at all, would want him in their life. It screamed at Shin to be cautious- that he could never have anything good. Something would happen to rip them apart, and honestly, his mind didn’t have to work hard to come up with events that could cause their relationship to fracture. Mettaton’s fan clubs could drive them apart. Shin’s anxieties could one day become too much for the monster to handle. Hell, Shin’s history could drive the monster away. There were so many ways that this…relationship could go horribly wrong- so wrong that no amount of cute lunch dates and romantic evenings together could fix.

              Yet…

              The part of him that sought out companionship latched onto the idea like a vice, determined to not let it go. It prodded Shin with the hopeful dreams of a jaded child- a happy home, a loving partner, a place of safety and comfort. The soft words it coaxed into ear both terrified and excited him, sending wave after wave of hopeful uncertainty.

              The confused conflict whirling in him made Shin’s shoulders sink against Mettaton’s. The monster noticed his shift, but didn’t comment on it. Instead, the two just slowly snuggled closer together, and Shin actually found himself genuinely enjoying contact from another person. Cuspid gagged exaggeratedly at the sight before settling down- “settling” not “snuggling” as Cuspid would later remind them repeatedly- between the two himself. Honestly, the whole reason one went to lunch actually didn’t happen. The three were too busy just quietly chatting and enjoying each other’s company to pay food much mind.

              The fan clubs were irate though.

              Shin could _feel_ their hatred crawl across his skin as he, Mettaton, and Cuspid gathered their things to clean up before heading back to their respective classrooms. He stealthily looked at the fan clubs through the veil of his hair and found them glowering at him and whispering to each other. Some part of his mind recognized that he might honestly have to start thinking of Mettaton’s fans as a physical threat as well as an emotional/mental one. Shin felt like he might be starting to get on Mettaton’s nerves by constantly mentioning the growing horde of angry men and women, so he opted to keep his fears to himself.

              “Take care of Cuspid okay?” Shin asked Mettaton quietly while Mettaton helped the bitty get settled on his shoulder. One of Mettaton’s friends visiting the school was someone who helped injured actors get back on their feet again. The two were hoping that this guy could help figure out ways to make Cuspid’s aches and pains hurt less.

              “I will darling. You just make sure to take care of yourself.” Mettaton didn’t need to add to the unspoken worry between the two. Shin worried for Cuspid. Mettaton and Cuspid worried about Shin’s safety without the bitty close enough to break some bones, “I’ll come and pick you up from your classroom as _soon_ as I possibly can _right_ after the last class of the day. We can do some grading in my office and maybe go out for dinner later tonight?”

              “Sure. I-I’d like that.” Shin nodded.

              Shin hesitated to give Mettaton a kiss so openly in the public, but the monster happily leaned down and gave Shin a chaste, sweet kiss. As per usual, their relationship maintained a level of…innocence Shin never thought he’d be able to have with a person. Casual sex was more often than not what he found on the menu- though those brief encounters had been far and few between themselves.

              Shin walked back to the classroom at a calm pace.

              He was in the building when he felt something tug on his hair.

              _Snick_

              Shin jolted and whipped his head around to find two girls and a guy running away with a chunk of his long hair. Immediately, Shin shut down, his mind unable to process that three _STAFF MEMBERS_ had sunk to such juvenile methods of harassment. He recognized them as members of the Mettaton fan club too. Shin’s hand moved up to his hair, and- to his saddened annoyance- a chunk of his once long locks had been cut to his shoulders, leaving the rest to hang awkwardly around the gap.

              _Great. Just fucking great._

              Shin hurried back to Blackwell’s classroom, what seemed to be his final sanctuary in this growing hell.

              “Shin?” Blackwell noticed his distress immediately, “What’s wrong?”

              “S-Someone…S-som…” Shin just weakly turned around to shown Blackwell the damage done to his hair.

              “Oh Shin…I’m sorry.” Blackwell sighed, checking his watch, “We still have a few minutes before class starts if you want me to make it even for you.”

              “C-Could you?” Shin muttered. _Dammit. I will **not** cry over this. _

              “Of course. Come and sit over here…let me put some papers down to catch the hair. You’re going to need to go get it professionally fixed to make it look better though.” Blackwell warned, grabbing a pair of scissors.

              “I c-can’t g-oo-o all day like this th-though.” Shin grumbled, sitting down on a chair and tugging on his long bangs, “I would like to keep my bangs relatively l-long…”

              “Sure thing.” Blackwell said.

              The two fell into companionable silence as Blackwell neatly began to cut Shin’s long hair. Shin muttered a string of angry curses in Japanese, cursing his luck. Blackwell turned his head to fix some of Shin’s hair.

              Shin was watching Blackwell’s fingers through the veil of his hair as the professor slowly cut more and more of his hair off. He watched motions slowly. Blackwell always had steady hands. There were a few cuts on his fingers though- probably from eating his apples. The man was always careless.

              Blackwell’s sleeve rid up a little to reveal more cuts. _Did he f-_

              Shin’s mind froze.

              A heart-shaped burn wound was just below Blackwell’s wrist.


	12. Break

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I own nothing. Full disclaimer/links can be found in Ch.1
> 
> In all seriousness, two things I need to address. The first might get me some flack for being "rude", but imo ignoring someone's request (that they made to avoid legal trouble) is already rude.  
> I'm serious about my personal security guys.  
> ONE: IF YOU ARE A MINOR (UNDER THE AGE OF 18) GO NO WHERE NEAR MY KISSXSLEEP BLOG. This disregard for a rule I've mentioned multiple times here and is prominent on the blog's page is why from now on, all of my fanfic will be PG-13 at best. As in no explicit sex, just fade to black and mentions of it. In case you haven't noticed, I deleted the NSFW chapter in the Addendum. I REFUSE TO GO TO PRISON OVER FANFIC. If you are a minor, just use my kissxawake account ffs. It won't kill you to do so.  
> Did I make my point clear? Listen, I like being the chill, relaxed kissxsleep. I can't do that if I'm in prison for anywhere up to 20 years. I'm 18 with a full life ahead of me. Don't jeopardize that please. I made a point to avoid using bitties from 18+ blogs until I was legally and adult myself for a reason you know?
> 
> Now that the serious part is over, TWO is: my senior year in high school is coming to a close. Thus, I'm going to be very busy until the end of May, but I will try my best to still produce content. I'm sorry. Hopefully, summer will give me more free time to write.
> 
> ANYWAYS! With the serious/annoying shit out of the way, I hope you enjoy the beginning of Shin mentally shutting down.

              His mind shut down as it struggled to process what the uniquely shaped burn mark meant. Shin had never been a fool- sometimes naive and gullible, but never a _fool_ …until that day. So many things began to line up in his mind. For the longest time, Shin wondered how his pursuer could track him down no matter where he was despite not being able to get close enough to his house- due to the heavy police presence- to properly see when he was coming and going. Sometimes, the figure would appear at Shin’s destination _ahead_ of him- almost like magic.

              _…I…always call Blackwell…_

              The habit had formed back when Shin first started working at the college. Blackwell had been his only source of respectful comfort, so Shin’s timid behavior almost bordered on anxious clinging. The professor never seemed to care about how it looked to others. He welcomed the nervous young adult with a smile and laugh no matter what. Blackwell was also the only person on campus who knew the full story of his past and his decaying relationship with his mentally ill father.

              _…so…this…is what betrayal feels like?_

              Shin is almost ready to cry, but his body had gone so numb that his tear ducts didn’t seem to want to work. Blackwell must’ve mistaken his stillness for him being calm because the man didn’t seem to notice the sudden shift in Shin’s demeanor. If Shin’s body felt any less like lead, he would jump with each snip of the scissors dangerously close to his neck. Fear did slowly start to seep into him, but some cold, frighteningly aware logic told him that Blackwell wouldn’t attack him in the classroom. That would be like holding up a big sign that says “I’m Shin’s stalker and a bitty abuser! Come catch me!” in front of everyone.

              Shin was still in danger though. Blackwell would more than likely grow more violent in his pursuits against the young T.A. if he felt like Shin had discovered his identity, and Shin would be alone during the solitary walk to the building that Mettaton worked at along a private path that curved through the small wooded area of the college.

              _Unless you grew a pair and went through the crowds._

              Shin’s brain couldn’t decide if that was a better or worse trial than dealing with a madman trying to cut him to pieces in the privacy of the woods while the noise of the students moving around muffled any of his screams. He slowly folded his hands together to keep their trembling from becoming noticeable.

              “I can’t believe they’d stoop to such petty tactics.” Blackwell scoffed, “Honestly, this is a college, not a middle school.” He shook his head, “I’m sorry that you keep having to deal with this. I don’t think they’ve ever gotten this bad before….”

              “They haven’t.” Shin said in a quiet voice, thankful that the earlier event could excuse his signs of distress.

              “…You know Shin…you might need to just…stop being whatever you are with Mettaton. I know that you two like each other a lot, but you need to think about _you_ in this case.” Blackwell sighed, “C’mon…you and I both know that you and some movie superstar aren’t going to work well in the long run. You’ll have a panic attack any time you have to go on screen.”

              “He isn’t a superstar anymore.”

              _You want me alone. If I was alone, I’d turn to you as my father figure. You’d probably even offer to let Cuspid and I stay at your place for a while wouldn’t you? That would give you an amazing opportunity._

              Dark thoughts kept Shin’s normally blank face slightly disgusted, but Blackwell mistook his expression for annoyance.

              “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I know he keeps saying that he’s left that life behind….forgive me for being a little skeptical though. What kind of person leaves that much money behind?” Blackwell snorts before adding under his breath, “And Mettaton’s never really struck me as the charitable type. He could easily just walk away from this life once he gets bored you know- leave all of this and you behind.”

              _You’re trying to prey on my anxieties…my fears of abandonment. Normally, I’d actually take what you’re saying to heart and push him away to avoid that kind of pain._

_**You want me alone.**_

              “He won’t.” Shin said firmly.

              “You sound pretty confident in that.” Blackwell mused, “Well, at least you’re getting something beneficial out of your arrangement with him. I haven’t seen you so collected in such a long time. It’s a refreshing sight.”

              “Mhm…” Shin could only hope that he sounded exhausted instead of terrified, “…They still haven’t found the guy that’s been stalking me- even after Mettaton injured him.”

              “They haven’t?” Blackwell didn’t miss a beat, “We pay good tax dollars for their services, and this is the kind of performance we get? Honestly….I hope they catch him soon Shin.” Blackwell ruffled Shin’s hair and sat the scissors down on the desk, “There we go…It’s not picture perfect, but at least it’s all mostly even. You’re kind of cute with your hair all short- makes you look younger.”

              Shin braced himself emotionally and mentally for when Blackwell came to stand in front of him.

              “Alright….looks normal enough from the front.” Blackwell nodded proudly. Concern came across his face once he saw how ashen Shin was, “Do you want to go home early? I know that this must be stressful.” Blackwell crossed his arms and gave Shin a worried look.

              “I’m fine. I’ve discovered running away from people like them just makes it worse.” Shin replied robotically as he stood up, “Sometimes, you’ve just got to face this kind of stuff head on.”

              “Are you sure you can handle the emotional toll of that though?” Blackwell sighed and scratched the back of his neck, “You’re like a son to me Shin. I don’t want you to get hurt.”

              _Dammit…Dammit…._        

              Unbidden tears welled up in Shin’s eyes.

              _You don’t want me to get hurt, but you’ve been stalking me for who knows how long after I got Cuspid, completely ready to kill me for a_ bitty. _How am I….shit…._

              “Oh Shin….Do you want me to call that metallic boyfriend of yours?” Blackwell offered, looking uncertain as to whether or not Shin would accept physical comfort.

              _There’s your way out of here, out of the cage with the lion napping. You need to leave._

              The small, logical part of his brain whispered to him. The emotional part of him was too busy sobbing to function. Shin doubted that he’d be able to sit through class after class with this man only a few feet away. His sanity would surely snap in half at that point.

              “I’ll t-text him…” Shin said quietly.

              “Alright. Why don’t you have him walk you home if you aren’t busy? I’d do it myself and take care of you, but I’m out of vacation days for the semester.” Blackwell chuckled.

              “Out of vacation days?” Shin questioned quietly. Usually, Blackwell claimed that the vacation days were used to go see his family, but Shin now had the sinking suspicion that those days off were used for darker purposes.

              “Yeah. My mother’s been rather sickly lately.” Blackwell sighed and crossed his arms, “My husband’s sister moved out of the country as well, so visiting her is no longer a simple 30 minute drive.”

              “I see.” Shin mumbled back in response.

              **Shin:** Mettaton. Come get me from Blackwell’s classroom. Please.

              _Please just come…_

              **Mettaton:** I’m on my way darling. What’s going on? Is it one of those ring members again?

              “It’s a bit of a pain in all honesty.” Blackwell grumbled, “I’m actually investing some time and effort into a pet project in the background. The payout is pretty good right now, but one of my best assets was stolen from me. I need to get it back…I hope to retire once I get it back.” He chuckles.

              “Oh? I didn’t know about that. Does it have to do with one of your hobbies?” Shin questioned lightly, keeping his eyes focused on his phone, shifting his shoulder to hide the screen.

              **Shin:** <3

              **Mettaton:**..Darling?

              **Shin:** Burn

              **Mettaton:** Shit

              _Thank god he has common sense._ Shin tucked his phone into his pocket and started to gather his things.

              “No, no. It’s a business thing. My brother got me involved with it. I was worried it wouldn’t take off at first, but boy…was I wrong.” Blackwell’s laugh sounded genuine.

              _He thinks I don’t know…He’s…he’s gloating to himself right now isn’t he? You fucking bastard._

              “I wish you the best of luck with it then.” The words felt like acid rolling around his mouth. He’d never lied to Blackwell- ever.

              _Maybe I should let him know that I know…if he kills me, I won’t be able to feel the hurt anymore._

              “Darling!” Mettaton’s cheery voice followed by the door to the classroom flying open caught both Blackwell and Shin’s attention. A few grumpy students griped about how he had practically “flown” through the halls to get to the class. Some of the jealous fans glared daggers at Shin, one even daring to hold up his missing lock of hair, “Oh my goodness your hair.” Mettaton’s jaw dropped. The fans snickered as Mettaton hurried over to Shin, “Who did this to you darling? I’ll see them pay.”

              “Some p-people.” Shin rubbed his face dry when he felt his body almost sag in relief against Mettaton’s, “I…w-want to go h-home please.”

              Cuspid hopped off of Mettaton’s head onto Shin’s shoulder. The bitty looked at Blackwell briefly, face unreadable, before nuzzling his head into Shin’s jaw.

              Cuspid was shaking more than a little.

              “We’ll get you there darling.” Mettaton kissed Shin’s forehead. The smile he gave Blackwell was the fakest smile Shin had seen appear on the monster’s face, but Blackwell ate it up like the arrogant fool he was, “I’ll be taking him home now….goodness…at this rate, I might need to just move in with you and walk you everywhere.”

              The fans made soft noises of terror at the idea.

              “I…w-wouldn’t mind t-th-that.” Shin murmured back. The offer might’ve just been a prod in Blackwell's direction to gauge the man’s reaction, but Shin’s reply was honest.

              “Alright lovebirds.” Blackwell laughed, “I need to get class started soon, and the last thing I need is my students leaving with cavities, shoo.”

              Shin and Mettaton left the classroom with even steps. With Mettaton’s arm wrapped around his waist, Shin could feel the nervous energy buzzing through the monster. That energy persisted until they were out of the entire building.

              “Are you sure?” Mettaton murmured, placing a kiss to the side of Shin’s head to cover the whisper.

              “I am. I saw it.” Shin whispered back, reaching up to rub the back of Cuspid’s skull upon feeling the bitey’s hands clench almost uncomfortably in his shorter hair, “It was right there. We need to go to the police.”

              “We do. Do you think he knows you know?” Mettaton kept his arm around Shin’s waist.

              “He doesn’t.” Shin shook his head.

              “Marvelous.” Mettaton’s voice was chillingly hard.

              The whole process of relaying everything to the police and waiting for them to bring Blackwell in passed through Shin’s broken mind in a blur. He didn’t know what to think, what to feel. Mettaton and Cuspid tried their best to coax some kind of reaction out of him once he began to shut down, but Shin could barely make out what they were saying over the tidal wave of thoughts crashing into him.

              “Shin!”

              _That voice._

              Shin’s shoulders hunched downwards as he raised his head in Blackwell’s direction.

              He didn’t know what he expected to find on the other man’s face. Everything Shin thought he knew about the man had turned out to be a lie. How could he even think to predict Blackwell’s reaction? What parts of Blackwell were the true man? How long had Blackwell been lying to him?

              Shin’s eyes found nothing but annoyed contempt.

              “Dammit…Why the hell couldn’t you have just left the little bastard alone?!” Blackwell yelled at Shin as he was pulled into one of the holding cells, “None of this would’ve ever had to happen if you kept your ugly ass out of other people’s business.”

              The rest of what was bound to be a tirade against Shin was cut off as Blackwell disappeared into the back of the police station.

              “Shin?” Mettaton brushed some of Shin’s hair away from his face.

              “I w-w-wa-a-a-an-ant to..go…” Shin began to sniffle.

              “H **om _e?_** _”_ Cuspid finished. Shin nodded.

              “Alright darling.” Mettaton attempted to soothe him, “We’ll get you home.”

              _I want to die._

_I really want to die._

_Why can’t I ever be happy?_

_What’s wrong with me?_

_What’s so wrong with me that everything has to hurt…?_

_DAMMIT SOMEONE TELL ME WHY I CAN’T BE HAPPY!_


	13. Fin

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I own nothing. Full disclaimer in Ch.1
> 
> I don't like the current male voice I have for my male narrators, so all future side stories are on indefinite hold while I move on to Mads's story instead. I feel like going back to my roots of a gal who ends up with a fuck ton of bitties because reasons that will be explain in the story. I also don't want to do the side stories because I feel some of the mystery and "fun" of the rings is not knowing just what they're capable of ya know? (the side stories expand upon concepts of the rings and ruin that mystery) 
> 
> I'm just going to drop this here and go finish a slightly harder outline for Mads's story. Honestly, I might just take the bitties I intended to use in side content and put them in this story (and never write the other side stories because they seem to cause me so much pain and frustration). *shrugs* I dunno. We shall see.
> 
> ANYWHO, let's wrap this story up and promptly forget it ever existed. I hope you have a wonderful morning, day, afternoon, evening, or night! *air kisses*
> 
> Also, slightly funny P.S.: My "s" key isn't working, so...yeah XD Umm...there might be more issues than normal regarding plurals/pronouns because the key just refuses to work sometimes.

              “ _Sh_ **in**?” Cuspid tugged on the blankets the human had essentially decided to use as a near permanent shelter after everything with Blackwell had exploded into a spectacular mess, “ _He_ y?”

              “Yes Cuspid?” Shin’s voice cracked a little. He hadn’t spoken much in the few days that he’d essentially been on a self-imposed lockdown within his own bedroom. Mettaton and Cuspid handled the situation as well as they could given their limited ability to really help him. The two could tend to him and be there for him, but they couldn’t enter his mind and fix the pain inside.

              “ **ea _t p_** _lea_ se.” Cuspid nodded over to where a bowl of soup slowly grew colder and colder.

              “…” Shin blinked from the shadows of the blankets.

              “ **Sh** i _n_.” Cuspid said with light force behind the name. The human slowly sat up and picked the bowl of lukewarm soup up. His nerves had practically destroyed his ability to really eat. He kept being so nauseated any time his anxiety swelled up and up, so he had quit eating in order to quit vomiting. Mettaton and Cuspid were forced to resort to thinner food, hoping he could actually keep it down.

              Blackwell’s guilt had been easily proven once police officers checked the back rooms of his house and his computer. The amount of damning evidence should’ve silenced all opposition, but- as always- there were always people shouting at the victim. Most people claimed Shin had technically stolen Cuspid since Shin made no effort to return the bitty- that these people saw a piece of property instead of a companion- to his previous owner. Thus, he deserved all of the torment for his “thievery”. Then there were people using this as anti-bitty and anti-monster propaganda, showing the world how crazy “those things” made “well respected humans”.

              Blackwell’s charm and squeaky clean record somehow managed to come out still shining a little as more and more of the locals began to side with him. Shin- after all- was not a born and raised member of the Oliverdale community. He was a ‘city boy’ from the Ridge cities that came in with his “fancy” words and bucket load of familial issues. Add to that, Shin’s recent decrease in popularity among the younger crowd because of his relationship with Mettaton, and you would have the worst possible time for him to have to hold his own against Blackwell’s local, sterling reputation.

              The headlines had also been less than helpful.

              _An Old Time Town Invader Brings Nothing but Trouble_

_Superstar Mettaton’s Boy Toy Lets His Fame Go to His Head_

_Pathetic T.A. Strikes Out Against Honorable Man_

_Blackwell Being Charged by Mentally Insane Young Man?_

              Add to that all of the vitriol of the local news coverage had begun to leak into larger news coverage, causing more of Mettaton’s international fans to send hate Shin’s way. The police officers originally tasked with watching over his house had begun swinging by to sort through Shin’s mail and gathering the various death threats as evidence in case Shin wished to pursue harassment charges.

              “…I want to die.” Shin mumbled into his soup, over and over. Life felt pointless. He had nothing to live for. Why didn’t he just break the spoon until had a sharp edge and rip his throat out with it? It would be simple enough.

              “ **no** _t a_ n **_opt_** _ion_.” Cuspid bit his hand, snapping Shin out of the suicidal haze creeping into his mind. The bitty had a firm, unarguable look of pure determination to keep Shin alive.

              “Cuspid.” Shin murmured. He put the bowl aside and scooped Cuspid up. The bitey hissed and puffed up at being coddled at first, but quit struggling as much once Shin pulled him close and practically sagged against him, “I’m sorry. I haven’t been…Y-You’ve been….I-I’m sorry.”

              In all of his emotional stagnation, Shin had failed as a bitty owner to make sure that his bitty was coping with the situation well. Cuspid- while never overly fond of Blackwell- had come to trust the man who turned out to be the source of all of his torment. There was no telling how much pain Cuspid had to cycle through on his own.

              “ _it **’s f**_ **in** e.” Cuspid soothed in his gravelly voice. The bitty kept repeating the gentle phrase over and over as Shin practically vibrated with anxiety against him.

              “I h-had no i-i-idea…i-if…I h-had on-n-nly known…” Shin stammered.

              “yo _u c_ o **uldn _’t ha_** v ** _e_**.” Cuspid assured him.

              “But w-what if I c-could’ve?” Shin whimpered.

              The two cycled back and forth in this apologetic circle until Shin finally fell quiet and just held the bitty close.

              “Darling? I’m back from the store.” Mettaton phased through the door and gave the human-bitty pair a concerned look, “Darling?”

              “I-I…W-We just t-ta-a-al-alked.” Shin murmured, trying to rub the few traitorous tears he had away without irritating his eyes too much, “Y-You’re b-ba..c-can you…?” Shin held out an arm towards the ghost.

              Mettaton was cuddled up against him within seconds, partially fusing into Shin because he couldn’t make himself completely corporeal.

              “I’m sorry that I can’t stop them.” Mettaton sighed, kissing his cheek, “There were more of those ridiculous news stories, so you shouldn’t watch the news tonight darling.”

              “…” Shin was quiet.

              “Your cousin called again by the way. He’s very worried about you. He spoke of trying to get away for Thanksgiving. Would you like that darling?” Mettaton questioned him gently.

              It didn’t take long for Shin to nod his head slowly.

              “I see. We’ll need to call him back later. For now, why don't Cuspid and I go try and get you something warm to eat?”

              “Stay with me?” Shin said before either of them could move away from him, “I…just…p-please stay with me.”

              The bitty and monster shared a look before giving Shin fond smiles and curling up with him on the bed.

              Once the emotional stagnation had turned into a slow recovery, Shin contacted his cousin who practically blasted his eardrum out with concern. Nagihiko and Shin had never been particularly close, so it was refreshing to have his cousin ready to drop everything in order to just make sure that he was okay. Shin managed to not cry during the phone call at least. He was a hot mess afterwards.

              Blackwell’s reputation still remained sterling despite images of the conditions the bitties were being kept in were leaked. He was still the upstanding man despite bitties recounting horror stories in the court. Nothing the prosecutors threw at him would stick. Even the judge seemed to be slowly swaying.

              Thanksgiving passed in a haze of Shin losing his job, and Mettaton eventually coaxing the human to move in with him. Things improved for Shin once he was out of his old home that was covered with memories of Blackwell stopping by for tea or sleeping over to get papers graded. The man had seeped into the very foundation of the place, so escaping his presence in that small way definitely helped speed the process along. Nagihiko even managed to come visit with his bitties. The kind smiles and warm hugs helped Shin more than he thought they would.

              Early December saw the start of the media circus reaching unbearable heights. Some channels blasted him just for openly being Mettaton’s partner- claiming Shin was using the former superstar to gain infamy.  Some ripped his truth about Blackwell to pieces out of some sense of twisted loyalty to the man. These two camps eventually began to trade notes and make stories even more hurtful, dragging Shin’s past into the mix and harassing his mentally ill father.

              _~~“Shh….darling.” Mettaton snatched the razor from Shin’s hand once the human’s fingers had gone slack enough. Cuspid snapped it in half while the monster cradled the frantic, breaking human close.~~_

              Shin doubted he’d be able to handle it much more. His recovery of the betrayal was being stunted at every turn. Until…

              “OOI!” A sharp, booming voice cut above the gaggle of news reporters stalking Mettaton’s house. A short, surly woman wearing an ugly hoodie and stained pajama bottoms had the glare of the devil and three bitties that puffed up angrily when the reporters started to harass her.

              Shin had been humbled to learn that Nagihiko had essentially set Josephine Newmore loose on the news reporters. Every channel once discussing him or Blackwell suddenly shifted to other topics without warning. The fan clubs finally backed down when they learned Josephine Newmore was throwing her weight behind Shin. It was like Naghiko had unleashed a titan. Hell, she even managed to strong arm O.U into giving Shin his job back, but did him one even better: he got Blackwell’s old job. He was a professor at last.

              Nothing was perfect of course. It would still be a long road until Shin’s life was back on track properly.

              At least he wasn’t alone.

              “Darling.” Mettaton’s cold lips pressed against his cheek. Shin blearily opened his eyes, narrowing them against the early morning light flooding the room. Cuspid still snored brokenly against Shin’s chest, “Time to get up. Today’s the big day.”

              “…R-Right…” Shin closed his eyes and hid his head under the comforter, “Can I really do this Mettaton?”

              “Of course you can darling!” Mettaton’s voice became scolding, “What have I told you about doubting yourself silly. Come on.” Strong arms tugged the covers away from Shin. The human whined when he was pulled into a hug, “Darling, you can do anything.”

              Shin didn’t believe that for a second.

              But…

              Maybe he would someday.


End file.
